Loco more than huge ornament
It was a resurrection to relish. The salvage of an 1885 locomotive from a tributary of the Oreti River north of Lumsden on January 30 made a cheering sight. The V class locomotive was hard-won from its resting place of 93 years, partly submerged in a riverbed, virtually suctioned into it, and laden with silt.
It was one of two on that particular site – from a lost generation of locomotives no longer needed for functional duties, nor even for scrap metal.
Shoring up stopbanks was perhaps a useful option by the standards and circumstances of the day, but the prospect of putting as many of them as possible to more visible and worthy use is to be welcomed.
The budget for the retrieval project was $158,000 raised through a lottery grant and local funding. Those who have publicly shuddered at the expense as a waste of money and effort, given that there are no plans to get it working again, are undervaluing the achievement.
This is hardly an expensive indulgence of sentiment over common sense
Restored, at least in appearance, the locomotive will form a handsome display for the Lumsden community, and serve as an imaginative touchstone for the many visitors or passers-by.
It will stand as a vivid, tangible reminder of a noble past, and a touchstone for the many who are interested in our engineering and cultural heritage.
Here’s where we do well to remind passers by, and ourselves, that we are not without working examples, either.
At Mandeville near Gore, the splendid Rogers K92 locomotive has been painstakingly restored and is operating under the aegis of the The Waimea Plains Railway Trust, which for more than two decades has worked to recreate a small part of the once privately owned railway which operated from Gore to Lumsden (or the Elbow, as it was once known).
Mandeville is also the site of the Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre, and the two attractions not only harmonise
. . . that’s the thing about monumental reminders of bygone times. They evoke tales worth telling.
with other, but also Invercargill’s growing reputation as a heritage transport venue through the Bill Richardson Transport World and Classic Car Museum, and Classic Motorcycle Mecca.
Add to this the mighty success of the Burt Munro rally, the tucked-away treasures to be found through the E Hayes and Sons collection, the Edendale Vintage Machinery Club’s annual Crank-Up event, the Thornbury Vintage Tractor Museum, the boutique charms of the Southland Fire Museum – and so much more besides that we really need to appreciate the totality of the offering. The extent to which Southland has captured transport history is one of place’s real distinctions.
Including human stories, notably iconic figures like the now internationally famous geezer speedster Burt Munro – but also Drummond’s ace single-seater race car engineer George Begg, whose achievements will be celebrated in a museum display at Motorcycle Mecca. It’s opening on February 13 is widely and eagerly anticipated.
Given this provincial matrix, it makes sense to display a V Class locomotive near Lumsden proudly – and in so doing tell the story of its salvage.
Meanwhile, we need to be able to tell the story of that unprepossessing Lady Barkly engine – a replica of which stands at Invercargill wharf. This, remember, can by dint of an 1863 test run can lay claim to being the first steam-powered locomotive to work in New Zealand. Not too efficiently, it must be said, since it constantly struggled to get traction on wooden rails and it proved a ruinously costly failure for Southland’s short-lived provincial government.
But that’s the thing about monumental reminders of bygone times. They evoke tales worth telling.