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The museums
The Pleasant Point Railway took over the custodianship of the 1875-built Railway Station in the township of Pleasant Point along with the goods shed and surrounding land in 1970. Over the following 2years members restored ‘Ab’ 699 to display standard; restored the exterior and interior of the station building to accommodate displays of railway and local history; erected a boundary fence; demolished the goods shed and erected a verandah over the station platform and ‘Ab’ 699. The boundary fence has been extended on several occasions and a diesel shed and signal box were added in 1976 and 1978 respectively. The Museum was opened to the public for the first time, with temporary displays, in December 1970.
Over the years new displays have been added and exhibition areas extended so that today the bulk of the Pleasant Point Railway station is taken up with displays covering a wide range of topics, including an old-time general store; waiting room and ticket office; printery; and a varied selection of cameras; kitchen utensils; old toys; furniture; sound recording equipment; clothing; war memorabilia; railway equipment and a large collection of old photographs pertaining to the local district.
The second museum is at our Keane’s Crossing complex, which you ride the train down to see.
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Work on the Keene’s Crossing complex started in 1982; although obviously planning had been going on for some time beforehand. The main shed was started in June 1982 and completed externally in May 1983, using a combination of paid and voluntary labour. Work on the interior has been an ongoing project since that time and includes the completion of an old-time movie theatre and associated projection room; conference room and kitchen; archives room; souvenir shop; display babies; toilets and workshop area. The three-road track area provides space for the majority of the Pleasant Point Railways restored railway rolling stock. The middle road incorporated an underground inspection pit and wheel drop, the latter being used to allow locomotive wheel sets to be removed from the engine’s frame using a hydraulic ram system.
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Other facilities at Keane’s Crossing include a former Cromwell turntable; a former Orari water vat and whip crane; a station platform; a picnic area; a vintage windmill and water pump and an authentic railway gantry signal;. Landscaping in this area has allowed the whole site to take on a very pleasant appearance.
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A storage paddock is situated on the opposite side of Keane’s Road. The storage shed here, built in 1991, accommodates both unrestored rolling stock and smaller display items awaiting restoration.
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Pleasant Point Station
The Pleasant Point Railway station was a busy place in its ‘heyday’ with grain, wool and stock going out and fertilizer, coal and timber coming in, as well as passengers. The station building was built in 1875 and once housed the Post Office, sending letters and telegrams until a Post Office was built across the street from the station around 1913. In those times the Stationmaster was one of the pillars of the community and when he left the area he was usually honoured with a farewell function.
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The signal box was originally situated at Washdyke at the junction of the Mainline and the Fairlie Branch. It was moved to the Pleasant Point Station in July 1978 and was officially opened by Mr A.D. Talbot, Chairman of the Strathallan Country Council on 19 May 1979.
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Turntables
The Keane’s Crossing turntable thought to have been built at the turn of the century, was originally used at Cromwell and is capable of carrying the ‘Ab’ steam locomotive. The combined weight of the ‘Ab’ and the turntable is about 100 tons and if the balance is right, one person can push the turntable around. The turntable centre point has a foundation of 20 metres of concrete. On top of the centre point is a very large ball race, which allows easy turning with a very heavy weight. This turntable is of the same style that used to be at Fairlie when the Railway branch was operating.
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The Pleasant Point Railway also used the former Hinds water vat to fill up the engines with water. This water vat fills up around half of ‘Ab’ 699’s tender (which has a 3,500-gallon capacity).
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Beyond the signal box at the Pleasant Point Station is a wagon turntable. It was one of many that, for about a century, from the 1870s wever used to allow railway wagons to be turned and pushed into warehoused. This turntable was installed in 1998 by the Pleasant Point Lions Club, with the help of a grant from the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. It allows the Model T Ford Railcar to be turned around for its return journey. The cap in the centre of the turntable was made in the Otago foundry in 1875.