Home of the South Canterbury Traction Engine & Transport Club
Preserving our transport treasures from the past to ensure they are remembered in the future.
Based a short distance from Timaru Airport, Kyle Park Transport Museum is the home of all things horse powered from horse drawn implements and steam traction engines through to vintage trucks and tractors.
Kyle Park reflects the important role that machinery and technology have had on our district and the wider New Zealand agriculture and transport community.
Visitors to the Museum will find an array of buildings containing vintage tractors, machinery, lawn mowers and one of the best collections of local classic trucks to be found!
Vehicles displayed range from traction engines, steam engines, boilers and early harvesting equipment, to our classic truck museum that will impress the most avid enthusiast.
Showcasing some 50 immaculately restored trucks and memorabilia from local transport companies, this ever-changing display offers something different to see with every visit.
We cannot wait to share our passion with you!
Our History
The South Canterbury Traction Engine and Steam Club was formed in 1963 with the intention of preserving steam powered equipment along with encouraging the younger generation to learn the art of operating and maintaining traction engines.
Steam on forward 60 years and the club has now evolved into the Kyle Park Transport Museum – a space filled with machinery that reflects the changing passage of time.
We remain focused on sharing our knowledge and passion of all things steam and transport for generations to come.
“It’s our people that make the difference”
Our volunteers are most definitely “heads in the clouds” steam engine buffs, but more importantly, they are passionate, driven and committed to all things engine based!
We are people at all ages and stages of life, with a wide and varied range of skills and abilities whose main focus is the shared love of vehicles and transportation.
We work together to keep the vehicles and sheds in the best possible condition to ensure the public get the utmost enjoyment from their visitation experience.
Your skill set is not as important to us as the passion and commitment you would bring to our dedicated team – what you don’t know, our current volunteers will happily teach you from their huge, wide, shared knowledge.
Whether you are 8 or 80, we are keen for you to join the ranks in helping us to create the “home” of steam and vintage transport in the South Island.
Our Membership
Our Supporters
Our museum purely exists due to the support of a vast and wide array of people and businesses from the wider South Canterbury community.
It started with visionaries like the Kyle family, who originally donated the land to house our very special museum, and who we now honour in the museum’s name.
Through donations we are able to continue to maintain both the vehicles and the sheds in which they are housed for future generations enjoyment and education.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us today if you would like
to become one of our supporters - we are truly grateful - thank you!
Come and join our passionate and dedicated preservation team.
We can offer you the unique opportunity to be educated on how to fire up a traction engine or to gain the necessary experience towards gaining your Heritage Steam Boiler Certificate.
We also encourage our members to become experienced with operating vintage machinery
such as tractors and harvesting equipment - including binders threshing mills and chaff cutters.
For any questions, contact Gordon at 027 433 3814.
Keen to become part of the restoration team?
Ready to be part of our transport history?
Sign up to be the first to know about our unique events that are held across the year.