Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc.

Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc. Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc. has restored the 1880-built Ormondville Railway Station. Scandinavians were first settled at Norsewood in 1872.

The Kopua-Makotuku section of the Hawkes Bay railway line (5 miles, 22 chains), with Makotuku as the new railhead, was opened with little ceremony on 9 August 1880. This section obviously included Ormondville Station, and the road route to Norsewood. However, until the first butter factory opened at Norsewood in 1892 (only the second, after Mauriceville, in the 70-Mile-Bush), the little 40 acre fa

rms around the district mostly produced grass seed and wool. This was due to the need for products that could be sent out of the district without perishing. Sawmills also developed in the district from around the time the railway opened. Until the Bay Express stopped running on 7 October 2001, Ormondville station was New Zealand’s oldest station building served by Tranz Scenic trains. It remains, however, New Zealand’s oldest complete rural rail precinct, which Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc. is restoring to match its 1950s heyday. To give the old station a new purpose, and in addition to restoration, ORPG has remodelled part of its interior. As a result, it now accommodates visitors as a unique ‘country homestay’ with a railway flavour – complete with the occasional passing goods train.

Some Waipawa Railway history...
09/04/2026

Some Waipawa Railway history...

On March 31st, Glenbrook Vintage Railway visited us again with their tour train, which was en route to Napier. They aime...
09/04/2026

On March 31st, Glenbrook Vintage Railway visited us again with their tour train, which was en route to Napier. They aimed to stop at Ormondville at 1:10pm, do a photo run and depart again at 1:30. They hoped that during this time, that it would be nice to have the station open for passengers to view. We (ORPG) thought that sounded like a nice idea too.

Anyway, Paul went over to welcome the travelers, and this is his report:
"The Railway Enthusiasts Soc excursion was an 11-day tour of the North Island.
Around 80 people were on board a very smart nine train headed by vintage DBR and DC class diesel locos
About 40 were kiwi and 40 international
Juliette and I were there to welcome them at their Ormondville station stopover.
The participants were full of praise for their train tour so far - on day eight.
I gave them a five minute welcome talk at the station … and then they explored inside the station and also the “story shed” story and image panels.
The train then backed up and they could videoed it passing through the station. The sky lighting was magic. In all maybe 40 minutes.
Donna (our homestay hostess) had the interior looking really great … all ready for the next guests.
This visit had a really positive vibe and I was pleased to be there to and to be part of it." - Paul

Love this 🤣
31/03/2026

Love this 🤣

A future visitor to Ormondville some day :-)
31/03/2026

A future visitor to Ormondville some day :-)

As they say: "Ya got to share!" ;-)
07/03/2026

As they say: "Ya got to share!" ;-)

Someone asked the other day about the layouts of the two Ormondville Viaducts - the past and present ones. I screenshot ...
15/02/2026

Someone asked the other day about the layouts of the two Ormondville Viaducts - the past and present ones. I screenshot a Google satellite view to explain things, and then decided to check out what photos were available for earlier times. So these three views are from 1966, 1983 and now. The shots aren't exactly perfectly aligned, but they give the general idea. The transition between the two viaducts occurred in 1907.

How's this for a collection of Ormondville Station over the years. A lot of familiar photos, text, faces, and even handw...
12/02/2026

How's this for a collection of Ormondville Station over the years. A lot of familiar photos, text, faces, and even handwriting (!!), but all put together nicely to remind us of many things at the station :-)

The Viking Festival's programme
06/02/2026

The Viking Festival's programme

Plenty of activity in the Norsewood area this weekend - the Viking Festival
06/02/2026

Plenty of activity in the Norsewood area this weekend - the Viking Festival

Last week - on January 22nd I understand - a passing train wobbled its way against the canopy at the station. Usually th...
01/02/2026

Last week - on January 22nd I understand - a passing train wobbled its way against the canopy at the station. Usually they have just skimmed the timber at the front, but this 'encounter' was a bit more aggressive - in that the ironwork was also damaged.

I can see where I should have taken one more photo of the scene, so, based on there being eight verandah posts, the first two from the Napier end seemed to miss the worst, the third (especially), fourth, and fifth copped the worst, and the sixth, seventh and eighth looked generally okay.

One 125-year-old bolt got 'beheaded' (given that the canopy was installed in 1901), and I picked it up from the platform and put it into the plastic container otherwise intended for pamphlets.

I am told that KiwiRail will fix the damage, so here's hoping :-(....................
After hearing more on it throughout the day, it is apparently thought that a wagon might not have been 'set in quite the right spot', and that this was the cause. Not speed, just a pain of a wagon inadvertently set-up 'not quite right'. Some rail adjustments have now been made that sound complex (to amateurs anyway), so here's hoping that has the desired effect. But meanwhile......

Something positive to contrast with poor Marton Station at present.
10/01/2026

Something positive to contrast with poor Marton Station at present.

Address

C//Ormondville Railway Station, Matamau-Ormondville Road, R. D. 7, Dannevirke, Tararua District, New Zealand
Ormondville
4977

Telephone

+64274030932

Website

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