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62 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
62 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
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Railways in New Zealand. (Hmmmm....!!)
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As you probably know, Railways as we know them now are a thing
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of the past. The first railway was the Auckland to Hamilton
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canal, running al the way from Wellington to Putaruru and back
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again. This was a special sort of underwater railway built by
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the 'Railway Pioneers', (a sort of South Island cowboys), and
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the waterproof tube trains that they used featured in the Rev.
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W. Audreys 'Ivor the Engine' books.
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The first steam train was invented almost by accident in 1066
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when Charles Darwin, the brother of Robert Louis Stephenson,
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welded several kettles together by burning his cakes in
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Scotland, earning him the nickname "The Flying Dutchman".
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However, it is the Wright brothers who are regarded by most as
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the fathers of modern railways because of their many 'railway
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children'. One of them, Casey Jones, died at the wheel of his
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express train after it struck an iceberg on it's maiden voyage
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to Japan. Many people lost their lives in this accident,
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discovered by Miss Marple in the film "Murder on The Orient
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Express". It was disasters like this that prompted the famous
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railway engineer Isambard Kipling Burnett to build several
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bridges over which trains could travel, the fourth of which is
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in Whangarei.
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Nowdays accidents are rare as all train drivers are ac-
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companied by firemen in case of emergency. Sir Arthur Baden-
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Powell, a notorious 'Great Train Robber' of the nineteenth
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century, vastly improved railway safety when he invented the
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semaphore signal, a kind of railway traffic-light kept in a
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cupboard or "signal box".
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Faster trains, like Henry Ford's 'Rocket' enabled our railway
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network to grow rapidly, linking the many stations between
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which people had previously had to walk. Indeed, early
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stations were very primitive affairs, one of which, Kings
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Cross, was named after the then monarch had become annoyed at
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the lack of facilities. Other stations took their names from
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famous events, such as Waterloo, named after Cliff Richard's
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winning entry in the 1973 Eurovision song contest, and
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Wellington Central, home of Paddington the Bear.
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Many great advances have been made in railway technology in
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recent years. Most trains offer dining facilities (hence the
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expression 'fast food') and NZRail's new Advanced Passenger
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Express is designed to tilt to one side, making it easier for
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old people to get on and off at stations. In future, special
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long wires will make it possible for electric trains to go all
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the way from Auckland to Wellington without the plug coming
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out.
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Further information is available to 'Railway Enthusiasts' (or
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people who know where the stations are and don't like buses)
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from NZRail's new look "radio" stations or from Paul Holmes or
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Titiwhai Harawera (who wasn't there that day).
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Downloaded from the Infoboard BBS (Auckland, NZ) Thanks to Colin Swabey!
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