Photo of mystery loco unearthed
Does an old steam train locomotive lie buried beneath a New Plymouth industrial site which is set to be redeveloped as a leisure and shopping complex?
It’s a claim that’s got people talking, although despite all sorts of letters and Facebook comments, nobody has been able to give a definite answer.
Now Peter Lightfoot, who worked at the former Ravensdown site for three decades, has come forward to say he believes he can quash any doubts – and, what’s more, he’s got a picture of the locomotive that lies beneath the soil.
‘‘This is the old puffing billy,’’ he said, pointing to the old black and white photo, taken many years ago, which shows a steam train on a track at the old fertiliser works.
‘‘It was like a puffer – probably would’ve strained its guts out pulling, but back in the day that’s all you had.’’
The Smart St grounds were sold to developers in 2016 and plans are afoot to turn it into a shopping complex. This has led to railway enthusiasts digging up the legend of the buried loco.
Lightfoot, a carpenter who worked at the site for 33 years from 1965, when it was owned by New Zealand Farmers’ Fertiliser, said it was talked about during his time there.
‘‘I can remember people talking about the train being tipped over.
‘‘They finished with it and they just wanted to get rid of it and they thought that was a bit of fill. They wanted to build a platform on it.
‘‘It was finished when I got there but I do know whereabouts they put her down.’’
Lightfoot, 80, said the steam locomotive was buried near the site’s acid plant as part of an effort to extend a platform.
His picture of the train came from a staff reunion held in the 1980s and he believed it shows the buried engine in its heyday.
It was later replaced with a modern locomotive.
‘‘While I was there they had about three,’’ he said.
Bluehaven Management’s plans to develop the site into a shopping complex with 30 specialty retail stores, a supermarket, a six-screen cinema, a hardware store, offices and a 75-room hotel, were welcomed by the New Plymouth man.
‘‘I think it’s a good idea. It’s a bit of a dump now.’’
But any hope of uncovering the mystery train would require a bit of effort, he said.
‘‘If they want to pursue it they’ll need to go under about a foot of concrete to get it. I helped pour the whole platform so I know how much concrete there is.’’
‘‘They finished with it and they just wanted to get rid of it and they thought that was a bit of fill. They wanted to build a platform on it. It was finished when I got there but I do know whereabouts they put her down.’’
Peter Lightfoot