Palmerston North Electric Power Station Inc.
1999
As
at late 1999...
Celebrating:
PNEPS Inc. acknowledged the 75th anniversary of the power station's
official opening, with an open weekend on 13-14
November 1999. That momentous event had occurred on 12 November 1924. The 1999
version also included running one engine every hour for about ten minutes.
Another cause for celebration was
the recent re-roofing of the building by the Palmerston North City Council,
which had been part of the lease agreement. The extremely rusty old roof, which
was probably original, had included a number of holes allegedly caused by
generations of Council staff dealing with stranded birds. The Council offered to
let us do the job, instead of professionals, but no-one was game to work at such
a height. The new roof is a lovely shade of green, instead of the ‘autumn
tonings’ that helped make the old roof a landmark. Now we just have to get the
rest of the building to look as good.
The Great Flood: Possibly the most 'exciting' event at the power station during 1999, occurred on about 28 May when no-one was present to 'enjoy' it. During a particularly heavy rainstorm, the mesh at the top of one downpipe, became clogged with remnants of the recently departed roof. This caused a huge quantity of water to back up and find its way into the building. Evidence clearly indicated that the torrent had had sufficient force to create a waterfall from the upstairs room down the stairs, over the balcony or down the walls to the ground floor.
The tongue & groove floor of
the upstairs room was still under water in some places on the 29th, when members
(luckily) arrived for a working bee. The rest of the building also provided
ample evidence of the extend of the flood. Desperation caused the chairperson to
risk life and limb on the roof on this occasion, and the problem should not -
hopefully - re-occur.
The late afternoon committee
meeting that followed, was endured without lights (for safety reasons) and
punctuated by drops of water falling through the ceiling from the room above.
Oh, well! The upstairs floor needed a good wash and better it happen now than
later, as the room concerned is likely to eventually be carpeted. Also, given
that the monthly meeting would normally have been held three days earlier, the
problem could easily have gone un-noticed for several weeks.
Some
items from the collection donated to us by the former National Electrical
Museum, of Hamilton, are stored in the building. However, none were effected by
the flood. It is probably fortunate, though, that the mishap occurred before the
arrival of the main part of that collection - and certainly before displays were
properly set up.
Acquisitions:
The latest acquisition to join the two British Polars, is a
nine-tonne 400 b.h.p. V-12 Paxman Ricardo model R.P.H. diesel engine and
alternator from the former Dunlop tyre factory at Upper Hutt. It had been
installed new as a stand-by generator in 1949 when the factory was built. Peter
Dent, of the Wellington Vintage Machinery Club, had acted as intermediary in
this donation after South Pacific Tyres, who now own the Dunlop plant, decided
to pension it off. PNEPS Inc. first took an interest in the engine on 12 May. It
was dismantled in nine hours by three committee members on 22 May, and arrived
at Palmerston North on 24 May.
Last updated 31/12/2000
