Welcoming Ab 699 back into service

Mark September 23 in your diary

After several years out of service for a major overhaul, Ab 699 is nearly back together. 

On September 23, 699 rolls back into service and be combined with a belated 50th anniversary celebration of the Fairlie Branch Line's closure. The last official train on the line ran on March 2, 1968 - however we didn't want to leave the Ab out of the festivities, so delayed them instead. 

A ribbon will be cut by our chief engineer to officially welcome the engine back into service and to launch the day's festivities. 

The Mackenzie Highland Pipe Band has been invited to play the locomotive out of the station in the afternoon. One noteable change is that 699 won't be 699. It will be dressed up at Ab 718 - the lead engine (followed by Ab 798) on the last train, all those years ago in 1968. 

For the first time in the society's history, we will be running the Ab, D16 and RM4 at night. 

 The day will have a 60s theme, so dust off your best outfits from back in the day and come join the action on September 23!

Welcome aboard!

A small army of volunteers keep this award-winning charitable group - and all of its equipment - running. They are all working to preserve New Zealand's railway history and the history of the South Canterbury area.

If you're not from the area and don't know where to find us you can pinpoint us here. And if your visit doesn't co-incide with a running day you can arrange a special visit, or simply drop by most Saturdays or Wednesdays, when the team are on site.

Since the beginning of 2018, people from around the world have made their way to Pleasant Point to ride the train. They include visitors from Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Holland, China, the UK, Germany, Canada & Israel.

Three tour parties we had through from overseas were from Israel, Australia and Timaru’s sister city, Eniwa, located in north Japan.

Help wanted!

Joan is retiring from our society from the role of Publicity Officer. Joan's done a sterling job on this for a number of years, and we have been looking around for someone to fill this important part of our society’s operations. So far we have not been able to find anyone. If you would like to help the society, or know of someone who could be interested, please feel free to contact us. Full training will be given.

Track work 

It's cold, hard work - but someone's got to do it.

During the winter shut-down period, the track team have been busy ripping out old sleepers and replacing them and the ballast they sit in.

With a sleeper every two feet, it's not a quick process and the materials aren't cheap either.

When the society was first relaying track, the then-county council ordered the rails be hidden at grass-level. Together with that, limited funds meant we could only afford river-run shingle - a mix of dirt and stones - to sit the track in. That meant the sleepers didn't get the drainage they needed.

While the track has since been raised out of the ground, it's an ongoing project to remove the old ballast as we spot-resleeper and replace it with proper dirt-free ballast.

To find out how you can help, either physically or financially, contact us here.