Fifty years ago the rusting and muddy hulk of a former leading lady in the rail service, the K88 Washington, arrived at The Plains Vintage Railway.
It was the beginning of what would become a glorious return to the tracks for the train.
Despite K88 having been a history maker as the first passenger express train between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1878, it was unceremoniously dumped to form part of stopbank in Southland.
In 1974, its shell was lifted from from the muddy grave it had laid in, by members of the Southland Vintage Car Club and a Southland Lions club.
Plains volunteer guard Michael Ross remembers well the day it arrived. Michael now in his 70s has been a volunteer at the Plains since it started 51 years ago.
He said it was rusty and full of mud.
‘‘When I saw it, like many I was very doubtful that it could be restored. Most of the parts had been removed from it. But I was proved wrong and it was restored,’’ Michael said.
The work to restore the shell was led by the late Bob Anderson.
Bob was from Southland and as a boy he would travel past the hulks of the trains in the riverbank.
It was a very proud day when he saw it commissioned.
It took 10,000 hours over nearly eight years of hard, meticulous work to preserve K88.
In 1987 the boiler failed its certificate of fitness and K88 was removed from service. K88 was last steamed for Bob’s funeral, in June 1987.
In the 1990’s a trust was formed to finance the second restoration of K88. The second recommissioning of the train took place in 2002.
‘‘It’s a great achievement to have K88 fully restored and working. It has made the Plains a bit famous,’’ Michael said.
Plains train driver David Oakley said its a privilege to drive ‘‘the K’’.
‘‘It’s much different to drive now days. Before the new boiler you really had to work hard to fire it up. The new boiler has made it a dream to drive,’’ Oakley said.
The train has made it on to the screen a few times with parts in the 1984 In Defence of Minnie Dean, the Television New Zealand Hanlon series filmed at the Plains.
In 1987, it was towed to Central Otago to take part in the movie Starlight Hotel.
K88 has also taken part in the Dunedin Railway station centennial celebrations, glided the main trunk line promoting Monteith’s and went to the Weka Pass railway in North Canterbury to be used as a prop.
