Frosty

Frosty was one of my forest workers, and he came as a government transfer from New Zealand Railways. This was entirely reasonable because the Otepopo Railway Station had closed down - actually before my time. There was a good set of stock yards, because livestock cartage had been a big part of the Railways' business.

I once used the yards to load some of my own cattle - this meant a long drive and a river ford, but it was a good way to load my cattle - onto a Hampden Transport truck.

There was a large goods-shed and a shunting bay. So it was a thriving station - and trains stopped for passenger service.

Frosty told us of many an exploit carried out at the station, with the recurring one being whenever there was a new engine driver, they would lure him into the station and Frosty 'stole' the train - often going right through the Herbert tunnel, which was nearby! Reversing back was a bit tricky because it meant backing up a steep incline! These were steam engine days and there was great billowing of smoke and steam!

If the same thing happened today, I'm sure the law would look dimly.

But Frosty was one of those old characters who drank hard and played hard but was honest as the day was long! A prankster too and was always laughing!

As with all the forest workers, Frosty was used to working with hand tools (slasher, shovel, spade, grubber) and was very skillful.

This reminds just how hard these guys used to work. P J Wilkie had a carrying business - a tipping truck. He won the contract to spread gravel on the Herbert Hill. To do this he drove his truck onto the Waianankarua river bed (Magaret Mackay's pit) and loaded on his own using a shovel! That's had work.

Later Snow, as we called him, worked a Clark's Mill at Maheno and then when it closed down, he put pressure on us, through local MP Alan Dick, for us to employ him.

The old bugger nearly killed me! We were logging windthrown Radiata Pine and he felled a standing tree but did not see me below me. I happened to switch off my chainsaw and heard the crack of his tree leaving the stump, starting to fall. I saw it coming straight for me and I discarded my saw and ran down a tree that had already been limbed - it was in line with the tree that was falling. At the top of the tree I jumped as far as I could and luckily there was a criss/cross of windthrown trees there for me to fall into! Snow's tree hit me on my helmet protected head - splitting it, but the criss/cross of trees took the force of the tree and I was unharmed.

Snow passes my home most weekends, he is in his 80's and often recounts the story and how badly he had felt when he say the tree heading in my direction. Then his relief when he saw me stand up!