Bay of Islands Vintage Railway

The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway (BOIVR) is the oldest railway in North Island, New Zealand.

The BOIVR Vision Statement is “To restore and operate a vintage steam railway experience between Kawakawa and Opua.”

BOIVR is unique in many ways.:

It is the only line that runs trains through a main town street in NZ; passing the world-famous Hundertwasser toilets; having left Kawakawa railway station - a classified 1911 heritage building; to Taumarere Station where the longest curved wooden railway bridge in the Southern Hemisphere is located.

Long Bridge has just been re-piled so that our trains can continue to Opua through an 80 metres long tunnel, lined with 1½ million bricks made on site between 1881 - 1884.

We will be building a new station at Opua not only for train operations, but also for folk using the Twin Coast Cycleway which runs alongside our track.

Many of our vintage engines and rolling stock are unique; however, Gabriel, our iconic 4-4-0 Peckett steam engine, is the only one of her type left in the world.

Seeing her chuffing along Kawakawa main street is a huge draw for visitors who bring business to our locality.

She is much needed - help us return her to her tracks.

Funds will be used to pay for the replacement boiler for Gabriel, our steam tank engine.