Timber Tales of Old
Close to 100 timber mills, big and small, operated in the indigenous forests around Lake Taupo for decades up until the late 1970s. Mighty totara, matai and rimu were the prize and feisty pioneering men battled to claim them. See the tools of their trade and immerse yourself in the stories of their conquests.
View Stott's Mill, a diorama (one-sixty fourth full size - 1:64) of a typical central North Island sawmill and tramway, which brings the old industry to life. This six metre long model created by Bob Stott shows logs being brought by steam-powered hauler out of the bush, then by logging train to the mill itself where men can be seen at work in the sawmill and stacking the timber.
The Climax A lokey had a top speed of about 10 miles per hour (16 kph) and
was said to be ideal for bushwork.
With native timber resources fast disappearing, the first forests of introduced pine trees were planted on the central Volcanic Plateau from the 1930s. Conservation measures now safeguard the native forests of the area and a renewable industry has flourished based on planting and harvesting pines.
