Newspaper Article 1997 – Historic station back on track

Historic station back on track

The train days at Ormondville Station were bustling.

Opened in 1880 it was the gateway for business from transporting livestock to mail and passengers.

Passengers peaked in 1943. A total of 15,000 tickets were sold and in 1950 annual livestock through the yards totalled 7000 cattle and 120,000 sheep some 10,000 bales of wood were handled across the loading bank of 20,000 tons of fertiliser was railed in.

However, 12 years ago the station closed down due to local freight switching to road transport.

And on Sunday it re-opened.

Restored to its 1950s theme and winner of the 1997 Rail Heritage Trust award, Ormondville Station looks nothing short of spectacular.

Train loads of people from Wellington and Palmerston North joined in the celebrations and the Dannevirke Brass Band added to the atmosphere.

People from as far away as Wellington were involved with the restoration of the station.

“This is our historic station. This is our region’s heritage,” says Ormondville Rail Restoration Group president Fred Playle.

“To the people who made this day possible, after all the hard work, this is your big day,” he said.

“Ormondville Station is typical of 1000 country stations throughout New Zealand but one from only a handful of survivors.

“And we have something even more special, bed and breakfast accommodation right here at the station,” he said.

Wairarapa MP Wyatt Creech officially opened the station and congratulated the Ormondville restoration group.

“There is a feeling of authenticity here, a 100 percent genuine feeling of what it would have been like years ago.

“This will give the future generations of New Zealand the chance to see what an old rural station must have been like in it’s hey day,” he said.

Photo captions –

Above: The Dannevirke Brass Band entertains.

Left: Wairarapa MP Wyatt Creech congratulates restoration group president Fred Playle.

Below: Bed and breakfast accommodation is available right there at the station.