Ferrymead Two Foot Railway

The Two Foot Railway Workshops

The Ferrymead Two Foot Railway Society Inc. is a member society of Ferrymead Heritage Park, in Heathcote, Christchurch, New Zealand. The society operates the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Ferrymead Two Foot Railway on an 450 m long circuit of track at the park, adjacent to the Moorhouse railway station. Trains are operated during special events or on major operating days using two small carriages built on ex-tipping wagon chassis.

Locomotives

The railway has two F. C. Hibberd & Co. "Planet" diesel-mechanical locomotives, built in 1953. Both were originally imported by Dominion Salt Ltd for use at its Lake Grassmere salt works in Marlborough; following the construction of a conveyor belt system to replace the railway in 1964 both locomotives were placed in open-air storage at Lake Grassmere before moving to Ferrymead in 1967.^[1]

Of the two locomotives, Planet No. 3483 George is undergoing restoration to working order at Ferrymead. Planet No. 3484 Winifred has been restored to working order and has been the regular operational locomotive on the group's line since 2007. Both locomotives were named after members of the Skellerup family who originally owned the salt works, Winifred being named after the late Winifred Skellerup while George is named after George Skellerup, Winifred's father and the original owner of Dominion Salt.

Rolling stock

The Society owns a small fleet of wagons, mostly obtained from coal mines on the West Coast of the South Island. The majority of these are coal tubs, although there are a small number of wagons built for maintenance purposes underground. The society also owns a small number of side-tipping wagons formerly used by Dominion Salt at Lake Grassmere.^[2]

A further two side-tipping wagons were rebuilt as passenger carriages at Ferrymead in the lead-up to the inauguration of passenger services in 2007. One carriage was built as an eight-seat open carriage, while the other was built as a six-seat closed carriage. The Society also owns a bogie carriage, formerly used as a first class carriage on the 'free railway service' run by the Colonial Sugar Mills in Fiji, which is currently under restoration.

Other equipment

The Society owns a small hand crane which is fitted on a homemade chassis. It is intended to place the crane on static display in the future once it has been restored and made inoperable for safety reasons.

References

External links

Ferrymead Heritage Park home page
Light Rail in Heathcote
Ferrymead's Grassmere Salt Wagons article
Ferrymead 2 Foot Railway (slightly outdated)
Some photos of the Railway

Railway preservation in New Zealand New Zealand railway heritage and preservation groups

Upper North Island	Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Bush Tramway Club Driving Creek Railway Glenbrook Vintage Railway Goldfields Railway Helensville Railway Station Precinct Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Museum of Transport and Technology Papatoetoe Railway Station Preservation Trust Railway Enthusiasts Society Rotorua Ngongotaha Railway Trust Waikino Victoria Battery Tramway and Museum Whangarei Steam and Model Railway Club

Lower North Island	East Coast Museum of Technology Feilding and District Steam Rail Society Fell Locomotive Museum Gisborne City Vintage Railway Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Main Trunk Rail Ohakune New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Ormondville Rail Preservation Society Paekakariki Station Precinct Trust Pahiatua Railcar Society Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust Silver Stream Railway Steam Incorporated SteamRail Wanganui Tokomaru Steam Museum Wairarapa Railway Restoration Society Waitara Railway Preservation Society Wellington and Manawatu Railway Trust Wellington Heritage Multiple Unit Preservation Trust Wellington Tramway Museum

South Island	Blenheim Riverside Railway Canterbury Railway Society Canterbury Steam Preservation Society Diesel Traction Group Ferrymead Railway Ferrymead Two Foot Railway Kingston Flyer Lumsden Heritage Trust Mainline Steam Heritage Trust Midland Rail Heritage Trust National Railway Museum of New Zealand Nelson Railway Society Oamaru Steam and Rail Restoration Society Ocean Beach Railway Ohai Railway Board Heritage Trust Pleasant Point Museum and Railway Project Steam Reefton Historic Trust Board Dunedin Railways (inc. Otago Excursion Train Trust) The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum Tramway Historical Society Waimea Plains Railway Weka Pass Railway West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society (inc. Shantytown) Westland Heritage Park Westport Railway Preservation Society

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