02/11/2019
Jim, Sylvia and Bill enjoying a cuppa in the railway cottage yesterday! Jim became friends with Sylvia and Bill when he moved to Springfield 14 years ago. Bill (Townshend) was a former fireman for the New Zealand Railways in the 1950s based at Linwood Locomotive Depot in Christchurch. He said he had the privilege of firing the first Ja class locomotive to come to Christchurch, Ja1270. “It arrived on the limited express one day,” he said, “and the next day I fired it up to Springfield!” Bill has had a lifelong interest in Railways and Jim decided that staying in the Reefton railway cottage would be a nice trip down memory lane for Bill and it was!