Welcome to the Marlborough Lines Diesel Station

This building was constructed in the 1930s to house the diesel powered generating plant and today remains as a monument to those who operated and maintained the station to supply electrical energy to the consumers of Marlborough.  Today the building and its contents are substantially the same as originally constructed and equipped.

Short History of Electrical Supply by Marlborough Lines

The Marlborough Electric Power Board was formed in 1923 and immediately commenced construction of a 1000kw hydro station at Waihopai and electrical reticulation to Renwick, Blenheim, Havelock and Seddon.  The system was officially livened in August 1927.

Above: The Harland and Wolff Engine

By late 1929 a shortfall in generation led to the installation of the first diesel generator set being erected in the western half of the building.  A second diesel generator set and its associated control gear was installed in 1937 in the eastern addition to the building. These two engines and Waihopai Power Station supplied Marlborough until a new supply from the Cobb Power Station in Nelson was attained in 1948, however daily running of the engines continued until a supply from the national grid was provided in 1958. An attempt to sell the diesel generation plant in the late 1950s was unsuccessful and consequently they were retained and utilised for peak load reduction. On 22 June 1992 the engines generated from 8:00am to 5:00pm during the energy crisis of that year.  It was to be the last time the plant was used for generating purposes.  On 30 July 2003 the plant was disconnected from the electrical reticulation and is run now for only short periods of times for demonstration purposes.

The Engines

The engine driving the first diesel generator set was designed and built by Davey, Paxman & Company of Colchester, England whilst the second was from Harland and Wolff of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Paxman Engine The Davey Paxman engine is a vertically configured six cylinder VN type, rated at 630hp (470kw) at 300 rpm.  Ordered in October 1929 by the Marlborough Electric Power Board and dispatched from the factory in England in February 1930, it is believed to be the largest surviving operational Paxman engine of its type anywhere in the world.  It is also the only 6VN ever built.  The only larger surviving engine of this type, an eight cylinder VPE, is at the old Lismore Power Station, New South Wales, but is no longer in working order. A history of the Paxman business, including a detailed account of the development of this type of engine, has been written by Richard Carr, a former Paxman employee.  This is available on his Paxman History website at www.paxmanhistory.org.uk.  One page is devoted exclusively to the history of the Marlborough Lines engine at Blenheim and shows pictures of it – see www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/blenheim.htm. In 2003 Paxman offered Marlborough Lines the opportunity to become custodian of its old VN

series engine drawings with the intention that they should be preserved for posterity.  We were pleased to receive them into our care and they are available for inspection by prior arrangement with the Company.

Harland and Wolff Engine

The Harland and Wolff Engine was constructed to a design by Burmeister and Wain of Denmark.  It is rated at 1300hp (970kw) and drives a 900kw generator.  It was purchased in 1936 through A & T Burt in Wellington, New Zealand and was erected in 1937.