After January’s heavy rains left sections of the Hauraki Rail Trail severely damaged and access to the Victoria Battery Site difficult, the historic location is now facing another setback – a brazen theft.
Victoria Battery Tramway Society chairperson Kerry Single said volunteers had worked tirelessly for several days to tidy up the site and rail tracks for Waitangi Weekend, but their efforts were dampened by a recent break-in and the theft of essential tools.
Kerry said during the evening of Wednesday, February 4, the lock on the site’s main gate was removed, and a DOC-owned container was ransacked.
Thieves then broke into the Transformer House Museum, cutting and wrenching open heavy doors secured with high-security padlocks.
Valuable tools were stolen, including MIG/TIG and arc welders, a Stihl brush cutter, battery-powered Milwaukee drills, spanners, socket sets, a green canvas tool bag with tools needed for emergency repairs, and 20 traction engine batteries weighing around 20kg each.
“[These are] all tools that are used frequently to repair, maintain, and construct displays and
machinery held by the Victoria Battery Tramway Society at the museum,” Kerry said.
“These tools are now long gone, and the worst of it is you do not realise what else is
missing until you come to need it.”
Kerry said the police had been notified, with the estimated cost to replace the stolen tools around $10,000, which also includes repairs to the damaged doors.
While volunteers were able to carry out the repairs themselves, the expense of replacing padlocks and cutting new keys added to the time and effort required to source replacement tools, he said – crucial for continuing their work in preserving the history of the battery site.
“Our Volunteers spend around 400 hours a month at the site maintaining the exhibits and upgrading the trams, carriages, and rail lines and grounds around the museum, so they can be seen and enjoyed by the visitors that come through.
“To have people come in and take away tools and equipment that we have collected over the years to do this work is frustrating.”
Kerry said most of the tools had been donated, gifted, or bought with specific funding, and many held special meaning, making them difficult to replace.
He believed the stolen items had already been taken out of the district and sold, and while efforts were underway to monitor online marketplaces, this was time-consuming, alongside the day-to-day work of running the museum.
DETAILS: To contact the battery with any information about the stolen items or break-in, or to help with donations, email info@vbts.org.nz or find the museum via Facebook.
BY KELLEY TANTAU
