3 September 2007
Good morning to you all Dear Reader - another day, another 'Blog'.
But first, an admission - my Dinosaur-Recognition Skills are not as good as I thought.
A member of my family has just pointed out to me that Ermie, the WDT's resident shunting dinosaur is a Triceratops, not a Stegosaurus!!. !! (Oh, the humiliation, of not knowing the difference!) I'm so embarrassed, and can never show my face at the local Grade School again! Is there no hope for me. . .
But, having got that admission out of the way, on with the circus . .
And, the 'Topic for today is . . . ?
A Country Station
So far, in this continuing description of the TVR, and latterly, the Kereru 'Branch, I have tended to focus on Puketeroto - the former terminus of the line, but there IS another settlement on the 'Branch which you might find of interest - Helston.
Helston is a very small settlement (population: 16 - perhaps), located on the other side of the Talisman Creek Gorge, and was at one time, a major port for the Waitekereru Steam Navigation Co's (WSNC) river steamer operations on the Waitekereru River.
During the early years of New Zealand's European settlement, rivers were a major transport artery into the country's hinterland, and conveyed supplies in, and wool and timber out from otherwise inaccessible areas where farmers' were clearing the 'bush (forest), before putting it into grass and starting to run sheep and cattle on the land.
The WSNCo was one of the shipping companies involved, and Helston was a port on their route up the Waitekereru.
However, as the countryside became more 'domesticated', and access roads were improved, the WSNC's fortunes declined, and eventually, the arrival of the railway from Puketeroto sealed its fate, with the company going out of business in 1939.
All of this is by way of background history.
Helston as it is today is a very small settlement, comprising only a General Store, a District and Community War Memorial Hall, and a small group of three houses - two of which are staff hoses for TVR employed and the third being a farm house belonging to the Baker's - long-time residents and early settlers - a local farming family. There is also the Helston Co-operating Church (interdenominational - services every 4th Sunday), and the station itself.
Helston is classified as an 'Attended Flag Station' by the TVR, and the Helston station building itself is a very simple structure, based on a NZ Govt. Public Works Department (NZPWD) standard design.
It is a simple sloping-roofed structure, and measures 3" x 11/4", with a verandah 3/4" wide running the length of the building. The front of the building is 11/4" tall, sloping back to 1" at the rear, and sits on a on a platform that is 1/2" thick.
The building comprises two separate rooms (the station office and a Ladies Waiting Room (and Toilet)) separated by an open area where tickets may be purchased and passengers may wait prior to the arrival of their train.
Signal levers are located to the left (Up Main ) side of the building and are under an attached lean-to (1/2" x 1/2' x 5/8" tall) which fronts onto a door leading from the station office and into the lever-frame area.
The Helston Goods shed is also a sloping roofed structure, and is located almost opposite the station building itself - an easy few steps across two sets of tracks (Main and Loop) which constitute the Helston 'yard. . It has two access doors, each measuring 1/2" x 3/4" tall, with one alongside the railway track and the other on its right-hand side, with a loading platform for loading access projecting outwards from both doors for a distance of 1/4". The RH door is for public assess, the one nearest the station for wagon loading. The shed itself measures 11/2" long x 15/8" wide, and is 13/8" tall on the side nearest the station and 11/4" at the rear. The shed floor is 1/2" above the bottom edge of the shed and is flush with the bottom of the doors
As an attended Flag Station, Helston has only one permanent staff member as 'officer in Charge' at any one time, with the current incumbent being a Mr Johannes Paulus Van der Graaf, a second-generation New Zealander, though of Dutch parentage.
Being a very conscientious individual, Johann is, at the time of writing, standing on the station platform, awaiting the arrival of the various trains that pass through Helston en route to both Kereru and Te Kereru Junction and the greater TVR network. He is , of course, solid to the core, follows the timetable to the letter, and as a result, has been rigidly awaiting the trains for several months, nay, years. as a result of this devotion to duty he has seen his station from all sorts of angles , and has literally stuck to his position for a very long period of time - TVR management have been suitably impressed! Indeed, it could be said, in all truth, that, despite being in some precarious positions at times, Johann has never, ever come 'unglued', and that he has stuck to his post no matter what.
The Helston station facilities also include a substantial 6,000 gallon Water Tower which is regularly visited by the steam locomotives which still ply their trade along the 'branch en route to Kereru, while at the Northern (Down Main) end of the yard is Bridge No.2, a unique structure, (being a variation on the well-known Warren-Truss type of bridge construction), which carries the single track main line across the Waitekereru River (complete with discarded hi-side wagons on its banks to stop erosion) and on towards Kereru, the 'Branch terminus.
There are of course many other sights at Helston which I could describe: Ermie, the activity at the Helston General Store ('established 1899, still going strong'); the FG-1D Corsair aircraft in a local farmer's yard, (which is now becoming an object of interest to aviation enthusiasts); the District and Community War Memorial Hall, and the Helston Co-operating Church (interdenominational - services every 4th Sunday), which is in itself a unique building with an unusual history, having been imported from the United States by a local businessman and shipping company magnate at a time when Helston was prosperous, but had no church of its own.
I COULD describe all these things - but, Dear Reader, I won't - because such is my concern for you that I realise that, if I did, you would wind up suffering from an overload of information (aka 'Brain Strain'), and that would never do!
But, I WILL wish you adieu, and hope that you will return to once again, and continue to partake in reading the absolute load of old cobblers that constitutes 'Komata's 'Blog'.
Happy modelling
Komata
"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . . "
PS: In case you are wondering: Yes, all of these things actually DO exist and inhabit a baseboard that measures 7'6" x 2'6". Thought you might need to know that - reassurance is a wonderful thing - isn't it?
