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- Your Hosts: Colin & Esma Stevenson.
- Location: Highway 57, Tokomaru, Manawatu, New Zealand. (See map.)
- Visit Us: Experience static displays with a guided tour. Open: Monday to Saturday, visiting hours 9.00am - 3.30pm; or Sunday, 10.30am - 3.30pm. NB: “Steam Up” days run 1.30pm - 4.00pm (see calendar below for specific dates). Closed: Christmas Day / Good Friday.
- Contact: Telephone, 64 6 329-8867; or send an email. Postal address: PO Box 46, Tokomaru, Manawatu, New Zealand.
- Admission: Adults $10 each, Children $5 each.
- Calendar: The museum has working steam displays about 10 times a year. Please note the “steam-up” dates for 2003/2004:—
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28 Dec
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1.30-4.00pm.
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New Year
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2004.
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04,11,18 Jan
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1.30-4.00pm.
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11 Apr
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1.30-4.00pm.
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06 Jun
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1.30-4.00pm.
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11 Jul
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1.30-4.00pm.
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26 Sep
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1.30-4.00pm.
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24 Oct
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1.30-4.00pm.
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NEW ZEALAND’S ORIGINAL STEAM HERITAGE ATTRACTION
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DECEMBER, 2003
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 he Tokomaru Steam Engine Museum is a private collection of machinery belonging to Colin and Esma Stevenson. The Museum opened to the public in 1970 after constant requests from steam enthusiasts. Thousands of visitors from all over the world have enjoyed reminiscing amongst the relics of New Zealand's industrial and agricultural heritage. The village of Tokomaru itself was established to support the surrounding farming district. Nowadays, the Steam Engine Museum is the most striking feature of the village. Industrial progress in the area continues with Stevenson’s Structural Steel, the district’s biggest employer. Nearby is the popular Horseshoe Bend river reserve.
 To find Tokomaru Steam, drive south on Highway 57 out of Palmerston North and past Massey University for 18 kilometres, or north past Shannon for 12 kilometres. The entrance to the museum is directly off the main highway, just south of Tokomaru School. Plenty of off-road parking is available. The Museum is fully enclosed, so don't be put off by the Horowhenua's wide range of weather conditions.
The website is conveniently divided into four sections: the steam dream looks at the origins of Tokomaru Steam and its growth from part-time hobby into fully-fledged museum; tour the museum offers a brief, selected overview of the Tokomary Steam experience; steam heritage is a summary of the history of steam power in New Zealand; and historic Tokomaru looks back in fondness at the prosperous heyday of the village and its surroundings..
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STEAM HIGHLIGHT FOR NOVEMBER
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STEAM HIGHLIGHT FOR OCTOBER
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STEAMING NEWS
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When submitting your details to us, please be aware of our strict privacy policy: under no circumstances will your email address be divulged to third parties, nor used for anything but the express purpose of sending you our email newsletter.
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The Marshall 1929 is the only one in the Southern Hemisphere. There is one other in the U.K. dated 1933. It has steam assisted steering not like the chain drive of conventional rollers. The Museum is the third owner, the original owners being the Christchurch City Council. The first job it did was the formation of the airport. It is classified as a footpath roller as the rollers follow directly behind each other. Colin has recently re-tubed it and it now has a current steam ticket after 22 years. It has a high speed forward and reverse mechanism to eliminate the problem of the rollers sinking into the finished road surface. The off-set vertical boiler is a most unusual feature.
This is the oldest steam engine in New Zealand, built in 1869, and purchased by Colin Stevenson in the early 1970s. The Wellington Patent slip was constructed between 1871 and 1873. It has an interesting history. There are at least two versions of its origin - traditional and factual. The traditional relates to the engineer de Lesseps and the Panama Canal. The Suez Canal was nearing completion in 1869. De Lesseps and ship owners in England were aware that a canal at Panama would make the route between England and New Zealand much shorter. They proposed to build a fleet of steam ships to carry a mail service between England and New Zealand. The steamers were to be of 2000 tons, and fitted with sails in the event of engine failure. In NZ it would be desirable to have easy access to a slipway to carry out any necessary repairs. This does not agree with the historical records, and probably the correct version is contained in the reports of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce.