Dawes Family in New Zealand

Silver Stream Railway

Choo Choo!

At the weekend we decided to finally take a trip to the Silver Stream Railway, and I say ‘finally’ because not only is it 3 minutes away from our house, but we have been promising to go since the day we moved in to our house two years ago!

Every Sunday the steam train is dusted off and the old carriages come out for a spot of visitor fun, and every week we can hear the ‘toot toot’ and see the thick smoke rising up over the trees. In the hills we can see a small, but very elegant steam train slowly chugging along pulling some stunning red carriages behind. Bethany has asked so many times if we can go, but always we have had something on or the weather hasn’t been good.

At $25 ($10 per adult and $5 a child ticket) its actually not a cheap attraction, but as it was our first visit the money seemed well worth it. Bethany ran along the platform ahead excited that we were to ride a train, she paid her (our) money at the counter and got her little ticket. She seemed ever so pleased with herself!

We boarded the train and were in awe of the stunning carriages. Old leather style seating, wallpaper type decoration, carpeted floor and those lovely up and over windows. As the smoke billowed in through the windows from the little old train it felt very nostalgic (of the days I remember riding steam trains with my Grandad on those fun learning weekends).

A very comfy ride although it was only 10 minutes long there and back. Not much to see out of the windows either but it was all about the experience. Unfortunately (and I suppose funny) Bethany found it particularly boring! She really didn’t seem to enjoy the ride at all, ah the world we live in now seems to be slowly taking away our children’s imagination.

All in all good fun. Not too sure it was worth $25 as there are a lot of cool things to do here in Wellington that last longer and have more to do for less money. It was lovely to see the dedication of the team at the railway station and the fact they obviously loved it all enough to get dressed into character and be there on a weekend operating and acting like it was 60 years ago.

Here is a cool video I found on You Tube, obviously taken by a true enthusiast. I only encourage you to watch this if you are really into trains as this is over 9 minutes long!

A good hour out on a Sunday afternoon. If you are in the area pop by and take a journey back in time, as I am sure one day these magnificent machines will be standing the test of time behind glass in a museum, or if the next generation is anything like the coming one, there will be no interest left at all!