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Fiat Railcar heading to Ross,Taramakau bridge.1960's
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DescriptionFiat Railcar heading to Ross,Taramakau bridge West Coast 1960's.
Date of Photo1960`sMap[1]
Date of Photo1960`sMap[1]
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Location (city or town)TaramakauLandmark (Place)Taramakau bridgeOrganisation (eg business)Fiat RailcarN Z RailwaysEventFiat Railcar heading to Ross,Taramakau bridge.1960's
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Category TagBridge
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Date Created1st December 2020CommentsPhyllis Aberhart
I can remember driving behind the train, unfortunately that was before cellphones with cameras
Gary Patrick
Great photo
Deborah Taylor
I remember being on it going to visit my aunty and uncle in Ross in the 60's. We left Rolleston on the train to Greymouth and then down to Ross
Karen Blanchfield
Captured a moment in time right there.
Elizabeth Shaw
So different now
Dianne Johnson
The railcards were a great way to travel. We went from Greymouth to Hokitika and back many times.
Alison Armstrong
Had to wait a lot of times. Waiting to for the Rail gateman on his bike..
Alison Armstrong
We went to Christchurch a lot too, mum and I. Loved the trip, 1960s.
Don McNarn
I used to ride in them from Westport to Stillwater
Jean Wilson
could be KJSchool children going to Camerons
Jean Wilson
School for swimming in the Railcar
Jakh Heremia
My first husband was gatekeeper for a time - we lived in the house by the bridge.
Stephanie Stuart
How awesome would it be to still have a railcar service along the coast, some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.
Robin Gibbens
Remember sitting In a line like that many a time. Remember the sound of then fabulous engines, sounded great
Bruce Whitfield
Transport well ahead of it's time.
Niven Muir
I remember going to and from Christchurch to secondary school on it
Sue Bousfield
I remember when the man came out of his house and shut the gates to the bridge for road traffic, cycled over the bridge to the other side to shut the gates, then back once the train had passed to open the gates.
Nova Hichens
Loved the railcar.
Jeff Louwman
remember all those cars like yesterday
Catherine Moffitt Rowlands
Ken Smythe
Paddy Robinson
Nice Mk 111 Zephyr there, had one for 25yrs
Joy Meyer
The gatekeeper had to shut the gat tjen bike over the other side of the bridge to close that gate cos the train was coming
Joy Meyer i remember that too
Elizabeth Mehrtens
me to. and in-between times in the whitebait season he had a net in the river, good on him his house at the end of the bridge on the Hoki side
Colin Harman
Probably traveled on that as i did that journey a few times in the late 60's
Leone Stewart
Greymouth to Hokitika each morning going to school, yes a man would bike from one end to the other and open gates, loved that railcar
Murray Saunders
EH
Mark 3
HR...
Classic cars
Jed Reid
Great photo , and the cars ...
Rebekah Fairhurst Geer
Noice! Both the cars and the railcar!
Paul Tomlinson
I may have been on it
Marlene Cleveland
I use to worry he would fall off his bike and not make it to the other side
Terry Bradley
Drewry railcar!
Margaret Malloch
Family had to stop lots of times
Alice Gilsenan
I liked being there when they done this used to wave at the passengers on the railcar
Margaret Suggett
Remember those days well
Annette Rogers
Golly I remember that and having to wait while railcar went by.
Marie Keys
Always exciting seeing railcar going by.
Helen Ritchie
Good times!
Karen Perryman
Harold Hays controlled the gates for a long time also i think Johnny Thompson did it for a short time after that
Tanz Bryce
Karen Perryman my grandad jimmy Bryce was also a gatekeeper
James Rob
Karen Perryman my Grandfather Andrew Rassmussen also was the gate keeper there. This was way before Harold's and Johnny's time. My mum Noleene was brought up in the gate keepers house.
Elaine Barrow
I remember those days!
Catherine Brian Denton
I remember that… life was simpler then.
Dianne Hooper
Loved riding those railcars with my dad Alex Vallance
Mary Findlay
We lived at Cameron’s and travelled by railcar to Greymouth all the time. Used to travel to “Manual Training “ in Greymouth on it and return. Girls did cooking (usually ate it b4 we got back to school) boys woodwork. Train station by hospital and we walked to Classes opposite Fire Station). Shirley Dayne was our cooking teacher. Used to visit classmate Gail Abbot who lived in the house, her father was the gate keeper. In later years my cousin Abbie Biddington did the job.
Richard Byrne
Good old days
Pam Freitas
I can remember this..
Marg Robs
Remember waiting to go to work in Hokitika in the mornings at the gates...followed the gate keeper in their car many a times and then get "caught" again on my way home again from work..
Liz Hay
One time we were first in the traffic queue at the gate en route to Greymouth. The borrowed 1930s Austin Mum was driving had no starter button and could only be started with a crank handle inserted through the front bumper. Mum had kept the engine running while the railcar went through; then after the gate was opened she set off, only for the engine to conk out when we were halfway across the bridge. She's desperately trying to crank the engine when four burly guys appeared and pushed us right across to the other side so the rest of the traffic could go through. We four kids thought the incident was really funny; Mum was hugely embarrassed!
Kevin Oregan
Zepyr's and Holden's how good are those memories. The railcar service from Westport to chch same day both ways , how good was that. Kevin O'Regan
Wayne Nicholson
I remember sitting in Grandad Joe's little Ford Prefect waiting for the gate to open and we got rear ended.
Helen Brennan
Love the cars
Nina Townsend
Wow look at those cars i had a zodi
Mary Keating
Great photo
Alison Armstrong
I remember those days! I think the Hokitika bridge was too long for biking.
Clare Pierson
Alison Armstrong biked across it many a time. Not enough traffic or trains to warrant having gates.
Alison Armstrong
Clare Pierson In reference to the signal man.
Helen Joan Forrest
Thanks for the memories. I remember seeing that.
Noeline Chandler
Can anyone remember Henry Jones who lived in Cameron's and we have been told he was also the gatekeeper? His son was Billy Jones.
David Carty
Used to have to wait there often to let the trains cross
Reply4hEdited
Vicki Woolhouse
My mums dad Andrew Rasmussen was the gate keeper The family all grew up in the house next to the bridge
Colin Lawler
Traveled from Greymouth to Hokitika a lot in the school holidays
Judy Kemp
Great days
Glenys Malone
Good Memories Mary
Pam Freitas
I had a puncture on bridge once.went to gatekeepers house and he changed tyre for me.on way back to hokitika i dropped off half dozen of beer to him.one happy gatekeeper ..
Kathryn Ward
Loved waiting for the train/ rail car to pass by.
Mary Morgan
yes done this trip many times on the back of a motor bike Glenys Malone
Glenys Malone
Yes Mary but it sure is different now
Sharon May
I remember that LOL
John Visser
We used to get the Railcar from Christchurch to Hokitika.
Jeff Sherman
The pace of life was certainly a lot more relaxed in those days, recall waiting for the gate- keeper to cross the bridge and let the cars "go".
Peter Mitchell
Yep. Remember John Thompson being the Gate Keeper
Bob Laing
I remember going from Ross to Greymouth on the railcar to go to the Industries Fair in the early 1950s
Sheryl Cooke
I think Wally Benyon was the gatekeeper, when my father, Ray Cooke, Cookie, was station master at the junction. 1950,sMaggie Boot
Love those cars waiting
Kath Rogers
I remember him on his bike
Diane Craig
Kath Rogers me too.
Pam Murphy
Been there ...done that . was quite funny
Garry Wick
I remember this well .
Cedric Trounson
The rail cars were so advanced for their time for passenger transport in NZ
Anita Thompson
Great to read these comments about yesteryear. They jog our memories.
Anne Conaghan
I remember that really well ,,Walter Benyon was the gate keeper ..I lived in Camerons Catherine Taylor
Remember those days
Reply1d
Wayne Southon
Johny Thompson hailed from Waharoa initially.He and his wife Liz? Were very good friends of my late wife- Olive Mitchell - who was the owner of the Taramakau Hotel where I met her in 1965.
Noeline Chandler
Have checked the book, " Between Two Rivers" and see that Henry Jones was known on the coast as Harry Jones. On the Electoral Rolls his occupation is a Railway ginger. Upon his death he is described as a retired Railway surface man. He married Ethel Wardrope. Harry and Ethel lived in at least 3 houses in Camerons I.e. 22, 35 and 40. Ethel and Billy lived in house 34, next door to Andrew Robinson. Harry owned land between the Railway line and the Taramakau River. The Midlands Sawmilling Co had a grant of easement to deposit sawdust on part of this land for a term of 42 years. Interestingly Andrew and Helena Rasmussen also lived in house 40 after Harry and Ethel, and Nancy and Ted Lawlor. I remember someone mentioning that Andrew was a gatekeeper. Does anyone remember the Jones family? There was a large family - the older children Billy, Ethel Rita (Rita), Charlotte (Lottie) and Richard Thomas (Dick /Tom) and the two youngest Ethel Dora (Dorrie) and Ruby attended Camerons school
Therese McAra
That zephyr might have been Ken’s car?!
PaulAnthony Teens
Plate. DH 235
Rob Lunn
Happy days the best of cars and the best of Rail shame that there’s no coming back
Frank ODonnell
We lived at the house at the end of the bridge the 70s
Aileen Sturrock
Taramakau Bridge, walked over daily on the way to school in Cameron's, the family lived at the Taramakag hotel there for a short time in 1948, McGrath's were the owners, great whitebait was had by all.
Ann Selander
I went to school on it Ross to Hokitika. All good fun
Ann Selander
I remember
Jennie Scott
Many trips Hoki to Chch, Hoki to Ross, was great
Jean Williams
Had them on Masterton line really great idea shame they haven't replaced them
Colin Harman
Travelled that route in the 60s in my forestry days, Ross Hotel was a short walk to wait for the bus to Haast
Frank ODonnell
We lived at the house at the end of the bridge the 70s
Barbara Fitzsimmons
So so lucky back then . we had so much fun back in the day.could trust .walk the streets .slept with windows open doors never locked keys left in cars .we had it good .we didn't think we did .but we know now we did . Sad reelly . Unbelievable how it's all changed .gone . Hang in there .a day above the ground .is a good one
Lois Little
Did anyone or remember going to sleep on railcar and end up in ross instead ov hokitika.life was great then we seemed as kids to be always on the railcar ,trips to greymouth and ch ch when your grandies lived in ch ch and I think it did,nt cost an arm an a leg then. We were so lucky many memories
I can remember driving behind the train, unfortunately that was before cellphones with cameras
Gary Patrick
Great photo
Deborah Taylor
I remember being on it going to visit my aunty and uncle in Ross in the 60's. We left Rolleston on the train to Greymouth and then down to Ross
Karen Blanchfield
Captured a moment in time right there.
Elizabeth Shaw
So different now
Dianne Johnson
The railcards were a great way to travel. We went from Greymouth to Hokitika and back many times.
Alison Armstrong
Had to wait a lot of times. Waiting to for the Rail gateman on his bike..
Alison Armstrong
We went to Christchurch a lot too, mum and I. Loved the trip, 1960s.
Don McNarn
I used to ride in them from Westport to Stillwater
Jean Wilson
could be KJSchool children going to Camerons
Jean Wilson
School for swimming in the Railcar
Jakh Heremia
My first husband was gatekeeper for a time - we lived in the house by the bridge.
Stephanie Stuart
How awesome would it be to still have a railcar service along the coast, some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.
Robin Gibbens
Remember sitting In a line like that many a time. Remember the sound of then fabulous engines, sounded great
Bruce Whitfield
Transport well ahead of it's time.
Niven Muir
I remember going to and from Christchurch to secondary school on it
Sue Bousfield
I remember when the man came out of his house and shut the gates to the bridge for road traffic, cycled over the bridge to the other side to shut the gates, then back once the train had passed to open the gates.
Nova Hichens
Loved the railcar.
Jeff Louwman
remember all those cars like yesterday
Catherine Moffitt Rowlands
Ken Smythe
Paddy Robinson
Nice Mk 111 Zephyr there, had one for 25yrs
Joy Meyer
The gatekeeper had to shut the gat tjen bike over the other side of the bridge to close that gate cos the train was coming
Joy Meyer i remember that too
Elizabeth Mehrtens
me to. and in-between times in the whitebait season he had a net in the river, good on him his house at the end of the bridge on the Hoki side
Colin Harman
Probably traveled on that as i did that journey a few times in the late 60's
Leone Stewart
Greymouth to Hokitika each morning going to school, yes a man would bike from one end to the other and open gates, loved that railcar
Murray Saunders
EH
Mark 3
HR...
Classic cars
Jed Reid
Great photo , and the cars ...
Rebekah Fairhurst Geer
Noice! Both the cars and the railcar!
Paul Tomlinson
I may have been on it
Marlene Cleveland
I use to worry he would fall off his bike and not make it to the other side
Terry Bradley
Drewry railcar!
Margaret Malloch
Family had to stop lots of times
Alice Gilsenan
I liked being there when they done this used to wave at the passengers on the railcar
Margaret Suggett
Remember those days well
Annette Rogers
Golly I remember that and having to wait while railcar went by.
Marie Keys
Always exciting seeing railcar going by.
Helen Ritchie
Good times!
Karen Perryman
Harold Hays controlled the gates for a long time also i think Johnny Thompson did it for a short time after that
Tanz Bryce
Karen Perryman my grandad jimmy Bryce was also a gatekeeper
James Rob
Karen Perryman my Grandfather Andrew Rassmussen also was the gate keeper there. This was way before Harold's and Johnny's time. My mum Noleene was brought up in the gate keepers house.
Elaine Barrow
I remember those days!
Catherine Brian Denton
I remember that… life was simpler then.
Dianne Hooper
Loved riding those railcars with my dad Alex Vallance
Mary Findlay
We lived at Cameron’s and travelled by railcar to Greymouth all the time. Used to travel to “Manual Training “ in Greymouth on it and return. Girls did cooking (usually ate it b4 we got back to school) boys woodwork. Train station by hospital and we walked to Classes opposite Fire Station). Shirley Dayne was our cooking teacher. Used to visit classmate Gail Abbot who lived in the house, her father was the gate keeper. In later years my cousin Abbie Biddington did the job.
Richard Byrne
Good old days
Pam Freitas
I can remember this..
Marg Robs
Remember waiting to go to work in Hokitika in the mornings at the gates...followed the gate keeper in their car many a times and then get "caught" again on my way home again from work..
Liz Hay
One time we were first in the traffic queue at the gate en route to Greymouth. The borrowed 1930s Austin Mum was driving had no starter button and could only be started with a crank handle inserted through the front bumper. Mum had kept the engine running while the railcar went through; then after the gate was opened she set off, only for the engine to conk out when we were halfway across the bridge. She's desperately trying to crank the engine when four burly guys appeared and pushed us right across to the other side so the rest of the traffic could go through. We four kids thought the incident was really funny; Mum was hugely embarrassed!
Kevin Oregan
Zepyr's and Holden's how good are those memories. The railcar service from Westport to chch same day both ways , how good was that. Kevin O'Regan
Wayne Nicholson
I remember sitting in Grandad Joe's little Ford Prefect waiting for the gate to open and we got rear ended.
Helen Brennan
Love the cars
Nina Townsend
Wow look at those cars i had a zodi
Mary Keating
Great photo
Alison Armstrong
I remember those days! I think the Hokitika bridge was too long for biking.
Clare Pierson
Alison Armstrong biked across it many a time. Not enough traffic or trains to warrant having gates.
Alison Armstrong
Clare Pierson In reference to the signal man.
Helen Joan Forrest
Thanks for the memories. I remember seeing that.
Noeline Chandler
Can anyone remember Henry Jones who lived in Cameron's and we have been told he was also the gatekeeper? His son was Billy Jones.
David Carty
Used to have to wait there often to let the trains cross
Reply4hEdited
Vicki Woolhouse
My mums dad Andrew Rasmussen was the gate keeper The family all grew up in the house next to the bridge
Colin Lawler
Traveled from Greymouth to Hokitika a lot in the school holidays
Judy Kemp
Great days
Glenys Malone
Good Memories Mary
Pam Freitas
I had a puncture on bridge once.went to gatekeepers house and he changed tyre for me.on way back to hokitika i dropped off half dozen of beer to him.one happy gatekeeper ..
Kathryn Ward
Loved waiting for the train/ rail car to pass by.
Mary Morgan
yes done this trip many times on the back of a motor bike Glenys Malone
Glenys Malone
Yes Mary but it sure is different now
Sharon May
I remember that LOL
John Visser
We used to get the Railcar from Christchurch to Hokitika.
Jeff Sherman
The pace of life was certainly a lot more relaxed in those days, recall waiting for the gate- keeper to cross the bridge and let the cars "go".
Peter Mitchell
Yep. Remember John Thompson being the Gate Keeper
Bob Laing
I remember going from Ross to Greymouth on the railcar to go to the Industries Fair in the early 1950s
Sheryl Cooke
I think Wally Benyon was the gatekeeper, when my father, Ray Cooke, Cookie, was station master at the junction. 1950,sMaggie Boot
Love those cars waiting
Kath Rogers
I remember him on his bike
Diane Craig
Kath Rogers me too.
Pam Murphy
Been there ...done that . was quite funny
Garry Wick
I remember this well .
Cedric Trounson
The rail cars were so advanced for their time for passenger transport in NZ
Anita Thompson
Great to read these comments about yesteryear. They jog our memories.
Anne Conaghan
I remember that really well ,,Walter Benyon was the gate keeper ..I lived in Camerons Catherine Taylor
Remember those days
Reply1d
Wayne Southon
Johny Thompson hailed from Waharoa initially.He and his wife Liz? Were very good friends of my late wife- Olive Mitchell - who was the owner of the Taramakau Hotel where I met her in 1965.
Noeline Chandler
Have checked the book, " Between Two Rivers" and see that Henry Jones was known on the coast as Harry Jones. On the Electoral Rolls his occupation is a Railway ginger. Upon his death he is described as a retired Railway surface man. He married Ethel Wardrope. Harry and Ethel lived in at least 3 houses in Camerons I.e. 22, 35 and 40. Ethel and Billy lived in house 34, next door to Andrew Robinson. Harry owned land between the Railway line and the Taramakau River. The Midlands Sawmilling Co had a grant of easement to deposit sawdust on part of this land for a term of 42 years. Interestingly Andrew and Helena Rasmussen also lived in house 40 after Harry and Ethel, and Nancy and Ted Lawlor. I remember someone mentioning that Andrew was a gatekeeper. Does anyone remember the Jones family? There was a large family - the older children Billy, Ethel Rita (Rita), Charlotte (Lottie) and Richard Thomas (Dick /Tom) and the two youngest Ethel Dora (Dorrie) and Ruby attended Camerons school
Therese McAra
That zephyr might have been Ken’s car?!
PaulAnthony Teens
Plate. DH 235
Rob Lunn
Happy days the best of cars and the best of Rail shame that there’s no coming back
Frank ODonnell
We lived at the house at the end of the bridge the 70s
Aileen Sturrock
Taramakau Bridge, walked over daily on the way to school in Cameron's, the family lived at the Taramakag hotel there for a short time in 1948, McGrath's were the owners, great whitebait was had by all.
Ann Selander
I went to school on it Ross to Hokitika. All good fun
Ann Selander
I remember
Jennie Scott
Many trips Hoki to Chch, Hoki to Ross, was great
Jean Williams
Had them on Masterton line really great idea shame they haven't replaced them
Colin Harman
Travelled that route in the 60s in my forestry days, Ross Hotel was a short walk to wait for the bus to Haast
Frank ODonnell
We lived at the house at the end of the bridge the 70s
Barbara Fitzsimmons
So so lucky back then . we had so much fun back in the day.could trust .walk the streets .slept with windows open doors never locked keys left in cars .we had it good .we didn't think we did .but we know now we did . Sad reelly . Unbelievable how it's all changed .gone . Hang in there .a day above the ground .is a good one
Lois Little
Did anyone or remember going to sleep on railcar and end up in ross instead ov hokitika.life was great then we seemed as kids to be always on the railcar ,trips to greymouth and ch ch when your grandies lived in ch ch and I think it did,nt cost an arm an a leg then. We were so lucky many memories
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West Coast New Zealand History (27th Nov 2023). Fiat Railcar heading to Ross,Taramakau bridge.1960's. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 12th Apr 2026 15:33, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/28745