The Society’s long-time archivist until early 2021, Mark Cole, passed away on 28 May 2021. He was aged 88. Mark had done many tasks for the Society over a very long period of time, including having been our archivist and caretaker of the Thomas McGavin building at Ava for over 20 years.  He was also a prolific photographer of all things pertaining to our railway, and the credit D M Cole alongside many hundreds of published photographs in various publications over the years will be familiar to many people.

Finding a picture of Mark is easier said than done, as he much preferred to be behind the camera, not in front of it. So we will make do with this image showing Mark examining the Wilson rail tractor which used to be at Manunui on 26 April 1986.