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Rene Shadbolt

René Shadbolt led the only New Zealand contingent to the Spanish Civil War. She and fellow nurse, Isobel Dodds, cared for wounded soldiers, particularly those from the International Brigades, from July 1937 to November 1938.

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Today in History

6 November

1908 Last spike for North Island main trunk line

Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward ceremonially opened the North Island main trunk railway line by driving home a final polished silver spike at Manganuioteao, between National Park and Ohakune. According to a reporter who accompanied Ward on the trip from Wellington, the ceremony was 'as impressive as scowling weather, muddy embankments and interfering photographers would permit'.

Construction of the central section of the main trunk line, between Te Awamutu and Marton, had taken 23 years of surveys, land negotiations, political wrangling and back-breaking physical effort by thousands of labourers. The first through train from Wellington to Auckland had actually run two months before the final spike ceremony, when a 'Parliament Special' carried MPs and others north to meet the US Navy's visiting 'Great White Fleet'. This train had crawled over a temporary, unballasted section of track hastily laid between the existing railheads.

Regular services between Auckland and Wellington began soon after the last spike ceremony and an express service was introduced in February 1909, completing the journey in 18 hours. From 1924 a new 'Night Limited' service cut the trip to 14 hours.

Image: Joseph Ward driving in the final spike