The old building was moved away from the railway line when it closed in the 1980s and then stored behind the old Lauder school for decades, where it was used as a boat shed for much of that time.
But when Bruce and Esme Macdonald moved to Lauder in 2012 they saw the potential to move the station building back to its proper place. The Lauder Beautification Society bought it for $1 the following year and moved it to the site, which is beside the Otago Central Rail Trail.
Fundraising and grant applications started in earnest and about $90,000 in grants and $30,000 in local fundraising had paid for significant restoration work since then, Mrs Macdonald said. The building has been repaired, its exterior and part of the inside have been painted and the site has been landscaped.
Part of the money raised locally came from the annual Lauder Ukulele Festival and registration fees from this year’s event, held at the weekend, would contribute to further work on the station building, Mrs Macdonald said.
The next part of the restoration project is to paint the rooms at each end of the railway station. One will be turned into a replica ticket kiosk, and the other will become an information/museum room, featuring local and railway displays.
About 160 people took part in the fifth annual ukulele festival which, along with open-mic sessions, workshops, concerts and a "recovery jam" this morning, featured workshops for other instruments such as the drums, harmonica and fiddle.
One of the workshops was held in the railway station, Mrs Macdonald said.
