The thundering heart of West Coast industry! Shantytown’s Foundry Experience invites you to relive the golden age of steam and ironwork, where powerful machinery and skilled craft created the backbone of the region’s extractive industries.
The Shantytown Foundry Experience is a unique, immersive visitor attraction that captures the by-gone era of steam and ironwork before it is lost. It is based on the region’s longest-serving Dispatch Foundry, established in Greymouth in 1873, and provides a fascinating look into the crafts and industries that shaped the West Coast and New Zealand.
Prepare to be captivated by the sights and sounds of a crucial industrial past:
These displays and relics help tell the compelling stories of the characters and industries – from goldmines and sawmills to coal mines, shipping, and railways – that were founded on the West Coast.
Foundries were an essential pillar of the extractive industries that developed the West Coast. They provided crucial services by:
Without foundries, the intensive industrial development of the West Coast would not have been possible.
The Foundry Experience is a must-see for anyone interested in New Zealand’s industrial past. After your visit to the Foundry, be sure to explore other related attractions at Shantytown, such as:
Immerse yourself in the ingenuity and hard work that built the West Coast!
Open Hours: 9 am – 4 pm
Closed: Christmas Day
Morning Train Times: 11am
Afternoon Train Times: 12.30 pm & 2.00pm
