Train driver Trevor loves the railway
Heavy machinery has always been a part of Trevor Bedggood’s life, but instead of driving tractors on the farm he now drives locomotives.
The retired farmer from Puketona can be seen regularly guiding the diesel trains but his passion is for steam engines and the iconic Gabriel.
Bedggood, 69, says he wanted to learn more about steam engines, given he looks after a 1901 traction steam engine at the Pioneer Village in Kaikohe, so headed south to the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway.
There he worked as a fireman and then learnt to drive Gabriel, who was built in 1927 and is the only one of her class left in the world.
Gabriel is currently out of action as she awaits a $200,000 refurbishment including work done on her chassis, boiler, and cab.
He says the steam is a ‘‘live’’ thing.
‘‘You have to keep putting coal in to keep the fire going, Gabriel uses a lot of steam and a lot of water so it’s a balancing act,’’ Bedggood says.
‘‘There’s the best photos of Gabriel with a plume of smoke going through town.
‘‘You can open the cylinders up so she blows out steam, it’s romantic, it’s a fun thing to do,’’ Bedggood says.
‘‘People wave and you can reply with the horn.’’
The appeal is also in the trains being an old form of transport and not a common sight, he says.
Bedggood estimates he has driven on more than a thousand occasions, guiding the trains through the Kawakawa township to Taumarere.
At every road crossing, or where the railway line meets the Twin Coast Cycle Trail, a sign marked W reminds drivers to sound the whistle.
‘‘It’s a lot of responsibility, you’ve got to be watching all the time, there might be a rock [on the track] or a branch, you can’t just sit back and open the throttle,’’ Bedggood says.
While trains do not need to be steered, obstacles on the track need to be cleared, and drivers need to watch for vehicles especially when driving through Kawakawa.
The locomotives can reach top speeds of around 23kmh.
Driving keeps him fit too, he says, as he climbs in and out of the cab, and hitches and rehitches the carriages at both ends of the track.
‘‘I’ll keep driving the train while I’m fit and able,’’ Bedggood says.
‘‘There’s a nice group of people and there’s a nice feel about the railway.’’
Over the years Bedggood, along with the other ten drivers, have transported wedding parties, school and community groups, transported Santa for the town’s Christmas parade and facilitated a staged hold up by horsemen.
Gabriel has also been used in the ‘Puff and Pull’ challenges, where teams compete to pull her through Kawakawa in the quickest time.
Throughout the school holidays the trains run four times a day and throughout the rest of the year visitors can catch the trains on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The railway is unique in that it is the only working railway in the country where trains travel down a State Highway and through a bustling town.
Bedggood says he has got to know the ups and down of the railway line and the peculiarities of each engine.
‘‘There’s a system of doing things and doing them in order. If you get the order right you’re OK.’’
A return trip from Kawakawa to Taumarere takes around 50 minutes along the 4.5km track. Eventually passengers will be able to travel over Long Bridge and through to a new terminus at Opua.
A resource consent has been approved for the new station at Opua, with the track set for restoration of the route between Kawakawa and Opua.
Volunteers from all over the world help the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust at different times throughout the year - including driving and maintenance work.