Pages tagged with: trains

New Zealand's worst railway disaster occurred on Christmas Eve 1953, when the Wellington–Auckland night express plunged into the swollen Whangaehu River near Tangiwai. Of the 285 people on board, 151 were killed. The tragedy stunned the world and left a nation in mourning.

All aboard! The North Island main trunk railway is 100 years old in 2008. Take a trip back in time to explore the epic construction of the line, the heyday of the steam passenger train and the place of the iconic railway refreshment room in New Zealand life.

The camera pans along a dark blue locomotive engine. But this isn't a full-size engine, it is part of the Exhibition's miniature railway.

A history of the North Island railway main trunk line since the first through train left Wellington on 7 August 1908

For most second-class travellers, travelling the main trunk meant a long, sleepless journey on hard-backed seats, struggling to find 'elusive comfort with the NZR pillow'.

Refreshments are an essential and often talked about part of any train journey.

The wreckage of the Wellington–Auckland express and the remains of the railway bridge at Tangiwai, 25 December 1953

Rescue party at a wrecked carriage of the Wellington–Auckland express at Tangiwai

The Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) Company’s locomotive No. 10 established a world speed record for the narrow 3 foot 6 inch (1067 mm) gauge, averaging 68 km per hour on a two-hour run and hitting a peak speed of 103 kph.

Photographer Henry Winkelmann captured this mixed train with passenger carriages crossing Chasm Creek bridge in 1903

A fully laden coal train, about to leave for Westport.

A short history of the coal trains that ran on the Seddonville line.

Pupils from Seddonville attending high school in Westport travelled by train in 1945.

Powered by Ww571, a freight train carrying timber and coal crosses Chasm Creek bridge in December 1968

Gore railwaymen celebrated Armistice Day in November 1918 by decorating locomotive F 78 and wagon with wilting greenery, imitation sausages and a blunt chalked message to the Kaiser.

New Zealand Post stamps commemorating the centenary of the North Island Main Trunk Link in 2008.

Re-enactment of the Parliamentary special trip of 1908

A few months after the last steam locomotives had been withdrawn from this country's scheduled rail operations, New Zealand Railways launched a new tourist-oriented steam passenger venture in the South Island.

Poster promoting the South Island train service

The Christchurch-Dunedin overnight express, headed by a JA-class locomotive, ran the last scheduled steam-hauled service on New Zealand Railways, bringing to an end 108 years of regular steam rail operations in this country.