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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------