TRAVEL

TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL VOLUNTEERS WEEK, ENJOY THIS LITTLE LOOK INTO THE TYPICAL WEEK ON THE RAILWAY!

The Weka Pass Railway charitable society has been operated entirely by enthusiastic volunteers since 1983. Collectively, between 300 and 400 volunteer hours are spent on-site each week.

Monday is one of very few days with no regularly scheduled activities on the railway, though it’s one of the more common days for business, school, and tour group charters (which are commonly staffed by our shift-working or semiretired volunteers).

Tuesday is one of the busiest days of the week at the Waipara depot. It’s the regular meeting day for the carriage restoration team, a passionate group of carpenters, painters and anyone else enthusiastic enough to lend a hand. Our 1930’s carriages are now cared for more than they have ever been thanks to the efforts of this passionate crew.

The engineering team also meet at the depot on Tuesdays, and activities could range from locomotive maintenance to the completion of rolling stock mechanical inspections. Other trivial jobs, such as site maintenance and gardening, may be undertaken.

And, of course, it would be unusual for a Tuesday to pass without a comprehensive shunt of the yard with the trusty DE loco— shunting is a methodical game of chess on a large scale, with the rolling stock the ‘pieces’ and the shunters the players.

Wednesday is the regular meeting day of the Track Gang. Comprised of about half a dozen committed volunteers who meet each Wednesday, the gang work in rain or shine to help keep our 1881 built stretch of permanent way in safe working order. While Gary’s hi-rail excavator and tamping head makes the job a lot easier than it was in days past, it’s still hot, sweaty work. Track gang volunteers are involved with a range of tasks - ranging from spot sleeper replacement and ballasting to maintaining the bridge and 62 culverts. They typically set off from the depot around 9am, but

sometimes a little later if the work is local.

The executive committee of the society meet typically on Thursday nights, at least once a month. Decisions are made at these meetings regarding the operations, projects, marketing and financing of the society’s current and future undertakings. Any member can make suggestions to the committee, and as we are a small society, anybody’s idea can go a long way. Our treasurer and secretary have quite an important, often forgotten, job, as do all the committee members and department heads who leave with a list of jobs to do before the next meeting.

Friday is another typically quiet day, though volunteers often show their faces on site before the evening rolls around. It’s not uncommon for charters to be booked for Friday nights, particularly in spring and early summer.

Some of our volunteers, particularly the younger crew and ‘out of towners’, choose to stay at the railway for the weekend to volunteer, socialise and watch the trains roll by at night. There’s always plenty of beds in the bunk car—the accommodation carriage—which, in parody of ’smoking’ and ’nonsmoking’ composite carriages, is partitioned off into ‘farting’ and ‘non-farting’ compartments.

Saturday is the main workday of the week at the Waipara depot. The day will often begin with a shunt, again with the trusty DE, to get all the vehicles that need work done in the appropriate positions. Tasks could vary from Westinghouse brake overhauls, to installing heaters in our carriages, to repainting wagons or locomotives. By early afternoon, the Diesel Traction Group (DTG) volunteers may have crawled out of bed and shown their faces to tend to some jobs on their DE loco — it’s always great to work alongside this talented crew. Another shunt towards the end of the day may see the steam engine pulled outside for coaling, or rolling stock being moved around for further work or inspections.

And finally, on selected Sundays we operate our public trains. If steam hauled, the driver, fireman and loco trainee will emerge from the bunk car or arrive by road at around 6:30am and light the fire before enjoying breakfast. By 9am, the rest of the crew will trickle in, a track inspection will be completed, and the fire may be lit at Glenmark Station.

Around 10:30am, the locomotive will couple to the train and a terminal air brake test and train examination will be completed. By 11:15am, the train will be sitting on the platform ready for departure. The engine and train crew will come together for lunch at Waikari station at around 12:30pm, before the train departs back for Glenmark. A second-round trip kicks off at 2pm, returning to Glenmark at 3:45.

By 5pm, the engine crew will be heading home, satisfied but exhausted, but always with a white smile contrasting against a filthy face. 

MORE INFO: Contact Matthew Morison Marketing Manager Weka Pass Railway 027 884 1424 matthewamorison@gmail.com www.wekapassrailway.co.nz 0800 WEKA PASS (0800 935 272) Operated by Trained Volunteers and Licensed by Waka Kotahi