Otago Excursion Train Trust

23/09/2026

We are incredibly sad to share the news of Des Scott's passing. Des was a longterm member of the Otago Excursion Train Trust, and was often spotted on the Cruise Ship Excursion trains as a carriage host along with other special trips like the Santa Train. He will be sorely missed.

A service to celebrate his life will be held at Hope and Sons Dunedin on Monday 28th September at 2.00pm.

31/08/2026

AGM 2026!

Our 2026 AGM is being held on Saturday the 19th of September at 7:00pm at the Otago Model Engineering Society, 1 John Wilson Ocean Drive.

Docs and newsletter to follow shortly via email for our members - please get in touch if you're not on our mailing list!

30/06/2026

We sadly acknowledge the passing of John Chapman (Chappo), a long term member of the Otago Excursion Train Trust.
John was a familiar face to many who had taken a trip up the Taieri Gorge, and will be greatly missed.
A service is being held at the St Patrick's Basilica on Macandrew Road at 1pm on Friday the 10th of July.

23/04/2026

Very interesting re-brand. While the Railway Station is an iconic much photographed building it is not the primary focus of a Rail brand. There is no generation of income from the building for Dunedin Railways other than the convenience of being a tenant and a perfect place to get on an off the train. Anchoring your brand to a non-revenue earning building is bizarre. The primary focus for Dunedin Railways in our opinion is the train, the trips and excursions that people pay for and enjoy that is the focus and the “brand”. It seems from this experiment that the train has become the secondary focus of the Board, Council and the operations team. The Otago Excursion Train Trust endorses and applauds progress with Dunedin Railways but not when it looks like this.

29/08/2025

27/01/2025

There will be a notice to our members coming this evening 🙂

While another buyer has expressed interest, it appears the future of Dunedin Railways is back on track.

29/10/2024

We would like to acknowledge the passing of Doug Vaudrey, one of the Taieri Gorge Railways first locomotive engineers. Doug was an employee from 1993-1999.

A service to celebrate his life is being held at Gillions this Friday (1st November) at 1100.

https://www.gillions.co.nz/death-notices

18/10/2024

12/10/2024

It's been a year today since the passing of Pat Beman. Judy Mann, Pat Tutty, John Chapman and Grant Craig have visited his grave today at the Allanton Cemetery.