Tokomaru Steam Engine Museum

main hall
largest steam engine in working condition and on display, was used to drive ammonia compressor (white manifold on right side)
outside

Tokomaru Steam Engine Museum is a privately owned and operated museum approx. 10km south of Palmerston North at the southern end of the village "Tokomaru", along the road to Levin/Wellington. It is own of only two places known to the author that runs steam engines on live steam (note that otherwise renowned places like the "Deutsches Museum, Munich" or the "Science Museum, London" don't operate steam engines on display. The other own is Motat in Auckland, New Zealand, which was dysfunctional in March 2001).
Each of the engines has a little lovely painted plate with its parameters and history.
Colin Stevenson and his wife run the impressive collection of steam engines as a "hobby" and fire the oil burning boiler up on public holidays. If you are in the area, enquire about the next date and be sure to be there (I missed it by a week in March 2001 - bummer.)
The extent of the whole operation, the workshops, engines and even caterpillars currently not on display are impressive and the couple is really into it. Worth seeing, even if the boilers are not fired up. Admission charge NZ$10,-- (if I remember it correctly, - doesn't matter, - do support these maniacs devoting their life to keep the engines running.)

images and text by Peter Apian-Bennewitz, back to my little list of museums
The photos had been taken at my first visit to Tokomaru, some summer in the 199x years.