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.

Well, here are some scenes from Steam Inc's north-bound flying visit to Ormondville Railway Station on 18 July 2026 - we...
19/07/2026

Well, here are some scenes from Steam Inc's north-bound flying visit to Ormondville Railway Station on 18 July 2026 - well it was 'just passing through, but its a steam loco so we enjoy every second of it. Except that just at the moment the loco pulled into direct range of my camera, I spotted that the driver was Cameron Persson, and I forgot in that instant to press the button. Luckily he's probably had a few similar experiences himself, so won't worry too much about that.

Here are a couple of photos Paul took yesterday of the steam loco and carriages etc. in transit to Napier, as they passe...
17/07/2026

Here are a couple of photos Paul took yesterday of the steam loco and carriages etc. in transit to Napier, as they passed through the station to get ready for today's activities. Mostly stating the obvious here, and doubtless more photos to follow....

17/07/2026

Today (July 18th) is our regular working bee, but there's also a special extra bit in the form of a steam train visit. So here is the blurb just posted to the Ormondville Commnity FB page, which might be of interest to those a bit further afield:

"Today Sat 18th a steam excursion train will run through Ormondville station twice.
It is travelling Napier to Woodville return with an Art Deco excursion
Morning depart Waipukurau 9.45 eta Ormondville 10.15
Afternoon eta Ormondville 2.30 arrive Waipukurau 3.00
These times are a “best guess” based on the planned times
You can look around the station too … as a monthly volunteers Bee is happening
Stay clear of the tracks once the road crossing bells start ringing."

Send a message to learn more

Here are the winners of the various awards at the Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand - FRONZ conference hel...
31/05/2026

Here are the winners of the various awards at the Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand - FRONZ conference held in Auckland this weekend.

And so did anyone happen to notice that the special two-hour episode of 'The Brokenwood Murders' featured extensively one of Glenbrook Vintage Railway's 'babies' at the heart of the episode - and bearing the special name 'Brokenwood Flyer'. It's blurb is here for good measure: https://www.facebook.com/reel/980026734992853

Congratulations to our 2026 award winners - you smashed it out of the park!

The MOTAT Society Steam Locomotive Restoration Award goes to Lumsden Heritage Trust for the static restoration of D6.

The Pounamu Travel Carriage/Guards Van Restoration Award goes to Mainline Steam Heritage Trust for carriage AO 100.

The Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand Restoration Award goes to the Dunedin Tunnels Trail Trust and Dunedin City Council for the Chain Hills Tunnel project.

The MOTAT Society Tramway Restoration Award goes to Western Springs Tramway for the restoration of Wanganui Trailer No. 21.

The NZ Safety Blackwoods Motive Power Award goes to Steam Incorporated for the restoration of DC 4375.

The KiwiRail Infrastructure Improvement Award goes to Glenbrook Vintage Railway and Gisborne City Vintage Railway: GVR for their North Yard retaining wall & siding, and GCVR for their new rail passenger loading platform.

The Glenbrook Vintage Railway Young Achiever Award goes to Pranz Cortez from MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology).

The Glenbrook Vintage Railway Volunteer of the Year Award goes to David Rowland from Steam Incorporated.

The Paul Dillicar Memorial Award for Innovation goes to Pounamu Tourism Group, Steam Incorporated and Canterbury Railway Society for their cooperative and innovative effort to boost additional passenger rail services in the South Island.

The Paul Heighton Memorial Award for Excellence goes to Leyton Chan of MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology).

Amazing work to all our winners and nominees!

31/05/2026

We didn't submit anything to Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand - FRONZ in search of an award this year, but this is one of the acceptance speeches that will be of interest to our membership and followers. :-)

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 :-)

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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