The

Great Train Meet

Could have been a great robbery

Dave Mills

In 1967, New Zealand converted the currency from the cumbersome pounds, shillings and pence system to a decimal system. A great logistical event was set in motion, most of which the general population was unaware of. Everyone turned up to their banks on the morning of Monday 10 July to receive the new notes and coins. People were mostly ignorant that on Friday 7 July all this money arrived by various means to every bank in the country. In Gore, everyone was oblivious of the small drama that occurred in the southern end of the main street as night began to fall on that day.

Try to picture the town of Gore on a Friday night in 1967. Certainly not exactly the sleepy hollow you think of today. There was late night shopping. Folk form all around would come to town to catch up, get supplies and generally spend some time together. The‘boy racers’ of the day would be going around and around the centre parking, placed down the centre of the main street, showing off. In every respect, a very busy country town.

At that time, the ANZ Bank in Gore sat on the corner of Main and Ashton Streets. Directly across Main Street from the bank sat the railway station. The main entrance of the bank was right on the corner of Main and Ashton. However, on Ashton Street at the back of the bank was a small-enclosed yard. There, one could park a car in privacy and have access to the back door. It was secured by a typical pair of tall double gates that, when closed, completed a high wall. One gate had a long bolt that slipped into a concrete pad in the middle allowing the other to latch on, thereby closing the yard.

At the time, the bank employed me as a teller. The other teller was one Ewan McLeod. We were both 20 years old.

My car then was a 1955 Austin A50. Those who know these cars will know there is a copious boot in them. A high lip to lift over but deep with a level floor. There are no obstructions, as the spare wheel is located in a drop tray underneath. Tools neatly clipped onto the sides of the boot. Good for putting the odd body in if one needed to.

On Friday 7 July, Ewan and I were instructed on the procedure for meeting the regular Limited Express train at the railway station due to arrive around 7pm that night. As stated, the Bank was immediately across the road from the station. We were to collect all the money for Gore and bring it across Main Street to our bank and lodge it in the vault. On Monday morning, the other banks would collect the allocations made to them from us and it was our job to parcel that out. We also had some other extra responsibilities. The first was signing for the keys to the main vault in the bank. Unheard of for such junior staff. The second was the signing for an ancient looking Smith and Weston revolver. Note…no instructions on how to use the thing, not that we needed any as it was ‘sans bullets’!