The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum
| Ashburton Railway & Preservation Society | |
|---|---|
| The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum | |
 |
|
| Entrance road and parking lot for the railway and museum. | |
| Locale |
Tinwald, Ashburton,  New Zealand
|
| Terminus | The Plains Museum |
| Coordinates | 43°55′24″S 171°42′30″E / 43.923267°S 171.708422°ECoordinates: 43°55′24″S 171°42′30″E / 43.923267°S 171.708422°E |
| Connections | KiwiRail Main South Line |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Mount Somers Branchline |
| Built by | New Zealand Government Railways |
| Original gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Preserved operations | |
| Owned by | Ashburton Railway & Preservation Society |
| Operated by | Ashburton Railway & Preservation Society |
| Stations | One |
| Length | 2.5km |
| Preserved gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Commercial history | |
| Opened | 4 October 1885 |
| Closed | 1 January 1968 |
| Preservation history | |
| 1971 | Formation of Society |
| 1973 | First Operation of Trains |
| 1981 | First Operation of K 88 |
| 2011 | 40th Anniversary Event |
| 2016 | 45th Anniversary Event |
| Website | |
| www |
|
The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum is a heritage railway and recreated historic village located inside the Tinwald Domain, Tinwald, New Zealand. The railway (operating as The Plains Railway) operates on approximately three kilometres of rural railway line that once formed part of the Mount Somers Branch. The entire village site and the railway are open regularly to the public, the railway operation utilises preserved and restored locomotives and rolling stock once used on New Zealand's national railway network while the village allows people to see how life was lived in New Zealand's pioneering past.
The Ashburton Railway & Preservation Society Inc. (AR&PS) was founded in 1971 with the goal of purchasing a section of the former Mt Somers Branch railway on which to run restored locomotives alongside preserving heritage farm machinery fast disappearing from the surrounding district. To meet the goal the AR&PS founded The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum and began to acquire exhibits - of both railway, agricultural and other locally historical items - and to erect buildings for storage and display purposes. The museum also acquired three of its most significant buildings, namely the cottage, church and railway station, by relocating existing buildings to the site of The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum.
The K 88 Trust Board was formed on 23 May 1995 and ceased to exist on November 3rd 2015. Their overarching goal was to restore and overhaul K's 88 and, perhaps, 94 to operating condition.
The plan was to:
On 10 April 1996 The locomotives were formally leased to the K 88 Trust from the Ashburton Railway & Preservation Society, the K 88 Trust Board had purchased the former Ashburton Countdown Supermarket in January 1996 for the restoration base for the locomotives and the trust as a whole.
Fundraising was well under-way before September 1996 and the first goal of restoring K 88 was achieved in 1997 with the construction of its new tender tank well under-way. The trust financed the construction of a new boiler for K 88, and construction commenced in 1998 and was completed in 1999. After the refitting of the boiler and other restoration works the locomotive was recommissioned on 30 March 2002.
...
Wikipedia