Necessarily, The Picton Railway Station is right by the Ferry Terminal.
The building is a classic New Zealand 'George Troup Special', built in 1913 to the Edwardian style specifications of Troup, the architectural head of the NZ Railways.
It was a replacement for the original 1874 station, and brought the wharf and the railway closer together. The image above is taken in 1900, and is of the old wharf complete with train. The platform for the first station is in situ at the Picton Museum. Like other Troup stations around the country, it is decidedly ornamental in the verandah area, with wrought-iron hoops decorating the railway iron supports. The roof is in Marseilles tiles, the corrugated iron and weatherboards being standard. It is listed by Heritage New Zealand, and celebrated byNew Zealand Rail Heritage Trust.
Though the roll-on roll-off Ferries, which came in in 1962, moved some traffic away from the station, the tide is now turning in the other direction. Two passengers services are operating out of here, Kiwi Rail's Coastal Express, and the Marlborough Flyer, a tourist steam train run by Pounamu Travel. It is the steam service which is getting up more and more steam, even planning to extend its run from the current Blenhiem day-trip to a Kaikoura excursion, as soon as the rails are repaired from 2016 Earthquake damage.
Marlborough Flyer's engine is called the “Passchendaele”, after the railwaymen who went to war, some serving in this historic and disastrous 1917 battle and not returning. The engine itself was built in 1915, and their carriages, are also of the WW1 era, built at the late, great, Addington Workshops.
Have you been on this trip, spotted these trains, visited this station? Drop us a photo, we clearly need one and are always grateful...
Image Credits: Picton, circa 1900, Dunedin, by Muir & Moodie studio. Te Papa (O.036758) and Dabbelju
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