
Railways in New Zealand. (Hmmmm....!!)

As you probably know, Railways as we know them now are a thing
of the past. The first railway was the Auckland to Hamilton
canal, running al the way from Wellington to Putaruru and back
again. This was a special sort of underwater railway built by
the 'Railway Pioneers', (a sort of South Island cowboys), and
the waterproof tube trains that they used featured in the Rev.
W. Audreys 'Ivor the Engine' books.
  
The first steam train was invented almost by accident in 1066
when Charles Darwin, the brother of Robert Louis Stephenson,
welded several kettles together by burning his cakes in
Scotland, earning him the nickname "The Flying Dutchman".
However, it is the Wright brothers who are regarded by most as
the fathers of modern railways because of their many 'railway
children'. One of them, Casey Jones, died at the wheel of his
express train after it struck an iceberg on it's maiden voyage
to Japan. Many people lost their lives in this accident,
discovered by Miss Marple in the film "Murder on The Orient
Express". It was disasters like this that prompted the famous
railway engineer Isambard Kipling Burnett to build several
bridges over which trains could travel, the fourth of which is
in Whangarei.

Nowdays accidents are rare as all train drivers are ac-
companied by firemen in case of emergency. Sir Arthur Baden-
Powell, a notorious 'Great Train Robber' of the nineteenth
century, vastly improved railway safety when he invented the
semaphore signal, a kind of railway traffic-light kept in a
cupboard or "signal box".

Faster trains, like Henry Ford's 'Rocket' enabled our railway
network to grow rapidly, linking the many stations between
which people had previously had to walk. Indeed, early
stations were very primitive affairs, one of which, Kings
Cross, was named after the then monarch had become annoyed at
the lack of facilities. Other stations took their names from
famous events, such as Waterloo, named after Cliff Richard's
winning entry in the 1973 Eurovision song contest, and
Wellington Central, home of Paddington the Bear.

Many great advances have been made in railway technology in
recent years. Most trains offer dining facilities (hence the
expression 'fast food') and NZRail's new Advanced Passenger
Express is designed to tilt to one side, making it easier for
old people to get on and off at stations. In future, special
long wires will make it possible for electric trains to go all
the way from Auckland to Wellington without the plug coming
out.

Further information is available to 'Railway Enthusiasts' (or
people who know where the stations are and don't like buses)
from NZRail's new look "radio" stations or from Paul Holmes or
Titiwhai Harawera (who wasn't there that day).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Downloaded from the Infoboard BBS (Auckland, NZ) Thanks to Colin Swabey!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

