Rail gift blocked

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 408, 15 October 1991, Page 1

Rail gift blocked

But Main Trunk Rail Ohakune Inc still hopeful of signal box success

Paekakariki residents have blocked the removal of a railway signal box from there, putting a stop to plans to shift the two-story railway relic to the Ohakune Junction as part of its railway village concept. Steam Incorporated had given the signal box to the Ohakune group of railway enthusiasts, Main Trunk Rail Ohakune Inc

(MTRO) who had already set in motion work to re-site it at the Junction. The money for the shift had been granted by the Ruapehu District Council, work had been completed on the new foundations for the building and the removal company had been organised. Paekakariki residents were outraged when they learned that the building was to leave their district and called on their local district council to stop the removal.

Steam Incorporated president Richard Taylor said the present members were not aware that when the signal box was given to them about ten years ago, it was on the condition that it remain at Paekakariki. He said Steam Incorporated, the group of railway enthusiasts who have a large base at Paekakariki, were annoyed at the action of the locals but that it seemed there was Turnpage2

Railway gift blocked

From page 1 nothing they could do to get around the block. "It's frustrating because the signal box has sat there for ten years and they had no interest in doing anything with it," said Mr Taylor. "Now, when we find someone who wants it and wants to restore it, they can't bear to see it go." Mr Taylor said Steam Incorporated have promised the Ohakune group a signal box and that they would find them one. He said Railways people are checking around the

country for one that could be transported to Ohakune. He said it was particularly frustrating because there were two signal boxes at Paekakariki and both were "rotting away". MTRO chairman Bob Norling said a steam train that used to be based in the King Country, Ka945, is now restored and based at Paekakariki and that it would have been fitting for passengers on that steam train to arrive at Ohakune and see their signal box, with the "Paekakariki" and "built in 1906" signs still in place, as was planned.

He said the situation was a setback for the project but that he thought there was a very good chance that they would find an alternative. FOOTNOTE: At the time the Bulletin went to press yesterday afternoon, MTRO Chairman Bob Norling was negotiating with Steam Incorporated and the Kapiti District Council to continue with the plan to resite the signal box. He said he was hopeful the KDC could be persuaded to allow the shift, as long as it remained the "Paekakariki Signal Box".