Newsletter August 14

The Roundhouse

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CHAIRMANS MESSAGE

Dear Members and Supporters,

After a slight hiatus we welcome you

back to our Newsletter updates on

the NRMNZ.

As we stand here today, I think it's

safe to say that the NRM project is in

a stage of transition. On site we see

the ground preparation coming to a

close and piling and construction of

the building become our next tasks.

Now that outfitting our temporary

archives container is wrapping up,

the Collection Team will move in and

begin cataloguing the voluminous

amount of material we have stored in

containers.

These are things you can see, but

there are things you can't see going

on as well. For example work on the

Te Papa National Services Museum

Standards Programme is more than

half done now, so there is light at the

end of the tunnel on that massive

undertaking. Fundraising also

becomes trickier as the amounts we

need for the next several budget

items become larger. These things

aren't a surprise, we've known this

would be the case since we began.

Still, that doesn't make the curve any

less steep.

I want to thank those committee

members and friends of the Museum

who have helped with 1001 small

tasks that all go toward making our

dream a reality:

The guys who have put in many hours cleaning graffiti

off the Phoenix electric unit,

The design and engineering people who have worked to

find inexpensive ways to

build us a quality home at the

lowest possible cost,

Those who have helped equip and ready the archive

container by giving us deals

on materials and

commitment of personal

time to install everything,

and even the guy who puts

this newsletter together so

that you know what's

happening with the project.

(And yes, we will see more

frequent newsletter updates

in the future!)

So now we take a deep, cleaning

breath and get back to work.

We thank you for your interest in the

museum.

John Peterson

Chairman

Newsletter of the National Railway Museum of New Zealand August 2014

In this newsletter I write about train working on the Main North Line during 1961. On this line the first station going north from Addington was the old Riccarton Station located just north of Kilmarnock Street. The last passengers called here in 1976 prior to the cessation of the Rangiora suburban trains. In this picture we see Ja 1269 in the loop with work train no. 15 on the 2nd of October 1968. This station for many years also had a private siding for Woods Flour Mill that was on the site of the current Christchurch Girls High School. Photo Wilson Lythgoe.

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NEWS FROM THE MUSEUM

OVER THE LAST YEAR

The first thing that the editor would

like to say, is to apologise for the

rather large gap since the last

museum newsletter at the end of last

year. It certainly isnt due to lack of

news on new things happening in the

last eight or nine months!

The new lead in track.

The Ferrymead Railway's workhorse, Bagnall shunter Tr156 works a rake of five ballast wagons on the museum lead in track earlier this year. Photo George Wealleans

During Labour Weekend 2013 the

Ferrymead Railway was intensively

involved with the Rail 150

celebrations, which involved visiting

locomotives and railcars from

Mainline steam, the Taieri Gorge

Railway and KiwiRail. The

Canterbury Railway Society track

team ably led by Peter Jenkinson had

put in many hours of work upgrading

the branchline leading to the KiwiRail

mainline prior to the entry of these

rolling stock items, which included Ka

942 and the Silver Fern Railcar Rm 24.

However the preparations for this

major event had prevented any

further progress on laying the new

access track to the museum, on the

embankment constructed in July and

August 2013.

However, due to the generosity of

KiwiRail, prior to Christmas 2013 and

on the 2nd

and 3rd

of January 2014 a

KiwiRail track team installed the new

large curved turnout and the access

track itself on the embankment using

91 lb welded rail. The length of the

siding currently is 147 metres. The

museum would like to acknowledge

the key support of KiwiRail without

whose help and support we would

have found it difficult to progress as

far as we have.

The CRS track team later in January

made very short work of ballasting

the new track and later this year a

small team led by Rachel Tucker and

assisted by James Gobbe, Jessy

Blunsdon and William Stringer

installed a new power assisted

switchlock, which by itself is a major

piece of new infrastructure. It is

intended at a later date to install a

trap point on the siding to catch any

possible rolling stock that may run

away on the noticeable gradient

from the turntable down to the

junction point.

KiwiRail signals technician (and Ferrymead Railway Training Officer) Rachel Tucker works on the new Switchlock power assisted turnout for the museum siding. She is assisted from 2nd left, William Stringer, James Gobbe and Jesse Blunsdn. Photo Pete Jenkinson

Currently stored on the siding are the

museums ex Otira and Wellington

Toshiba Heavy Industries built

Electric, Eo 45 of 1968 and NZR

Hillside workshops build Tr 190/943

of 1977 plus a Kp wagon from the

Canterbury Railway Society collection.

KiwiRail Grant for Tr 190/943

The Tr loco (NZR #457) came into

service in January 1977. It is

significant as the last New Zealand

Railway workshops built locomotive

to enter traffic. The museum

committee had been concerned about

this locomotive starting to

deteriorate from exposure to the

elements, in view of the delay to the

construction of the roundhouse. As a

result of this we have been

investigating purchasing a PVC cover

for the loco and some quotes have

been obtained for these.

Quite suddenly during mid June, the

museum chairman John Peterson

received through the Rail Heritage

Trust of New Zealand, information

that KiwiRail were in a position to

offer us a grant towards installing the

missing motor and transmission in

the locomotive. These were missing

from the locomotive when we

received it from KiwiRail several years

ago. The museum had in the interim

received a replacement Gardner 6lX

diesel from our friends at the Ocean

Beach Railway in Dunedin but this

required some replacement of

missing parts.

We are hopeful that this grant will

enable us to replace the missing parts

and transmission for the loco and

have them installed back into the

engine compartment. Committee

member Colin Barry is investigating

ways of doing this. Once again we are

grateful to KiwiRail for their help with

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this project and to the Rail Heritage

trust for facilitating the offer.

Further to this good piece of news,

our chairman is drawing up an official

long term lease with the Rail Heritage

Trust for the loan of this locomotive

to the museum.

Arrival of Cattle Wagon T199

Last year we were offered a number

of items of rolling stock by the Rail

Heritage Trust from the now defunct

Waverley Station Group in Taranaki.

Initially we were interested in both a

three door Z wagon and the cattle

wagon T 199.

However in view of the transport

costs involved, after consideration we

chose to accept only the offer of the

cattle wagon and this was

transported south on the back of an

STL Linehaul truck in February

arriving at Ferrymead on the 17th

.

Despite open air storage at Waverley

over the last few years the wagon is

substantially complete and is in

reasonable condition. Some of the

woodwork has naturally deteriorated

and will need replacement and there

is some corrosion to the steel

underframe and body strapping.

The wagon is one of the T-4 subclass

of these bogie stock wagons and was

built at Addington workshops in

1966, one of the last specialist stock

wagons built by the NZR. There are

about 12 T wagons still in existence

at various sites around New Zealand.

However some of these have had

their bodies removed and been

converted to passenger carrying

vehicles while most of the remainder

are still in an unrestored or semi

derelict condition, one notable

exception being the fully restored T

175 (also a T-4) at the Ocean Beach

Railway.

T 199 will make an interesting

contrast to the much earlier sheep

wagon J 3525 of 1937, in storage in

the Canterbury Railway Society

carriage shed after full restoration in

the CRS workshop. I gave a detailed

description on this wagon and sheep

wagons in general in the November

2012 newsletter.

La-4 Wagon from Paekakariki

In April we were offered free of

charge (except for transport) a 1924 built La-4 highsider wagon no. 15817.

This offer came from NZ Railfan

magazine editor Reid McNaught.

This is a distinctive version of these

once numerous wagons, with a no

headstocks style of construction and

large coil spring axle boxes.

While the wagon has some corrosion

of the ends this is not unrepairable

and given the importance of the

hundreds of similar highside wagons

to NZ rail history we were pleased to

accept Mr McNaughts generous offer.

The wagon is presently located on the

Steam Incorporated premises at

Paekakariki and we had arranged with

well known Wellington railfan Clive

Davis that the wagon be transported

South as part of a backload on his

truck. Unfortunately this contract

was cancelled and we are now faced

with paying commercial rates for

transporting the wagon to Ferrymead.

If anyone would like to help sponsor

this journey, we would be more than

delighted to hear from you!

On the 17th of February 2014, Addington workshops built cattle wagon T199 is craned of to its storage place at Ferrymead. The wagon was formerly at the Waverley Station precinct in Taranaki. Photo Dave Hansen.

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Highsider La 15817 sits in the sun at Paekakariki. We have been offered this wagon free of charge and only need to find transport to get it to Christchurch. Photo Reid McNaught

The English Electric Unit - Phoenix

Readers may remember from the last

newsletter last year that we had

accepted from the Wellington

Regional Council the English Electric

units DM 16 and D 162 (TMS DM 216

and D 2687) known as Phoenix.

After they were finally withdrawn

from Wellington commuter service in

December 2011, the set was donated

to the NRMNZ in January 2013.

The unit has been stored at the

KiwiRail depot in Linwood for the last

year or so but it was finally brought

to Ferrymead by a special shunting

service during June. The unit had

unfortunately been heavily tagged by

vandals during its storage in

Wellington. However several

members are now in the process of

removing this unwanted paintwork by

careful application of a special

solvent. Initially stored on the back

road of the triangle it has now been

separated into its two parts and these

are stored on different sidings in

front of the Ferrymead Railway

Carriage shed and workshop.

As an electric multiple unit, it is very

easy to forget the carriages are 65

years old!

The turntable pump saga.

For the last several months during a

particularly wet spell of Christchurch

weather, visitors to the museum site

will have noticed that the museum

turntable pit has resembled a

swimming pool more than a turntable.

Unfortunately the pump we had

installed last year to drain the pit

after rainfall had burnt out and was

beyond repair. (Apparently this was

due to salt water from the estuary).

This unfortunately was not covered

by insurance and we will need to

source a new pump with an overload

switch and a float switch system.

Committee member Peter Soundy is

in the process of following this up

with a new supplier and we hope to

have the pump replaced soon.

The Archives Container

Last year we purchased a fully

internally lined and carpeted 40 foot

high cube container to act as a

temporary archives until the time

when stage two of the museum

project is built. Stage two includes an

addition to the roundhouse

containing a specialist archive room.

Colin Dash arranged the purchase of

the new container from Spacewise

Containers and it was delivered to a

site adjacent to the turntable at the

end of last year. Since then Colin and

Peter have arranged the fitting out

of new shelving, desks and chairs in

the container. A number of plan

drawers obtained from Archives New

Zealand have also been placed in the

container.

In the last few weeks Peter Soundy

has also arranged installation of a

power supply, allowing lighting and

DM 16 and D 162 wait to be propelled into Ferrymead by two Dc locos as the KiwiRail staff access the switchlock to open the points into the Ferrymead Railway on the 14th of May. Photo Kevin Prince

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heating for the container along with

the ability to set up computers.

Colin Dash is following up a possible

redundant Plan Printer from a local

printing business.

In due course some of the archives

(including plans and photos),

presently held in the CRS library room

above their workshop will be moved

to the new container. After they have

been catalogued in the museum

database it is hoped that the

container will be available for

enthusiasts and researchers to access

files and photographs.

Also during the last year the

Canterbury Society of Model and

Experimental Engineers vacated their

former clubrooms and donated to us

their plan collection which has a

strong rail bias. We thank them for

this donation to our archives.

Peter Soundy works on some strip lighting for the archives container. Photo Colin Dash

The 2014 NRMNZ AGM

Thirteen members attended the AGM

held in the Lions Building at

Ferrymead on the 26th

June. All the

current committee and executive

were available for re-election and the

executive/committee remain as

follows;

John Peterson President, Colin Dash

Vice President; Secretary-Brian

Wheatley; Treasurer- Peter Soundy;

Committee; Cam Moore, Bruce

Shalders, John Mackenzie, Colin,

Barry and Gordon Bartram.

At the meeting it was decided that

Full Membership of the Museum will

remain at $35.00 per annum.

Building Consent and the Future

plans.

We hope to hear from the

Christchurch City Council in the next

few weeks that our building consent

has been approved. We have the

money once this is finalised to dig out

the piling holes for the roundhouse

building and to build up the floor

level of this area surrounding the

turntable with hard fill.

Further progress on the building

itself will depend on success with

grant applications. We were

disappointed but not disheartened to

have our last application to the

Lotteries Fund turned down. The

committee is actively looking at

alternative funding sources to further

progress the development of the

museum.

Another view of the completed museum siding turnout and switchlock. Photo Peter Jenkinson

NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS

TRAIN ADVICE NO.1102 of

13TH

APRIL 1961

Given the massive changes to our

railway system over the last 50 odd

years I sometimes find it interesting

to peruse old NZR working timetables.

These former railways bibles

contain a wealth of information on

the traditional railway covering

everything from the train numbers

and times for the different lines,

equipment at the many now vanished

stations and branchlines, restrictions

on certain types of rolling stock and

even the location of ambulance

stretchers in the case of accidents.

Even the Lake Wakatipu Steamer

service (the Earnslaw) timetable was

shown in these timetables!

Browsing a couple of these timetables

in the archives recently I came across

a Train Advice # 1102 issued by the

District Traffic Managers Office in

Christchurch on the 13th

April 1961.

(Eight months before yours truly was

born!)

This train advice gives details of

changes to train services on both the

Main North Line and the Main South

Line effective from Monday the 17th

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April 1961. I thought newsletter

readers may be interested in the

contents given the many changes in

rail traffic and the disappearance of

many of the stations and connecting

branchlines in the last 52 years.

In view of the large number of train

services contained in the document,

for this newsletter I am just going to

concentrate on those changes listed

for the Main North Line only. If there

is enough interest I will continue with

the Main South Line and branches

train services in the next newsletter.

It is perhaps helpful to remember that

this train advice shows the

Christchurch to Picton line, as it was

one year and four months before the

Interisland roll on roll off Ferry

Service started in August 1962 with

the GMV Aramoana. This line was

still mostly steam worked at this

stage although after the Ferry

introduction it was largely diesel

worked (north of Waipara at least).

Train working on the Main North Line

from Christchurch to Picton on this

train advice covers 30 different train

numbers or shunts. Details of the

train services are as follows and show

many details that have vanished from

todays slimmed down Kiwirail. It

does not however cover the

passenger only services such as the

Christchurch to Rangiora railcar

services. More about these later.

The Trains

Train #65 Christchurch to Picton

Goods was to take tonnage for

Southbrook and north of Rangiora

(except for Amberley and the Waiau

Branch). One roadsider wagon

(R.S.W) was attached for small

lot/parcels traffic to Kaikoura.

Train #70 ex Waipara goods to

Christchurch was to take tonnage ex

#206 (Waiau to Waipara) and shunted

as required to Christchurch.

Train #71 Christchurch to Waipara

goods took Waiau branch tonnage

and shunted stations from Belfast to

Waipara.

Train #75 Christchurch to Kaikoura

(or Picton) took traffic for Mina,

Fernieherst and beyond.

Train #77 Christchurch to Waipara

goods was to take traffic for

Amberley and the Waiau Branch and

included a R.S.W for the Waiau Branch.

Train #78 was another Waipara to

Christchurch service and was to take

tonnage ex no. 88 for stations

Glasnevin to Papanui inclusive, also

tonnage ex no. 232 R.R. (run as

required).

Train #88 was a Picton to

Christchurch service and shunted

between Picton and Kaikoura and

Kaikoura and Waipara as directed by

Train Control. Loads for Glasnevin to

Papanui were to be reduced at

Waipara for no. 78. One R.S.W was

attached for stations Blenheim to

Christchurch.

Train # 93 R.R. was a Mon to Fri run

as required Christchurch to Kaikoura

goods.

Train #99 appears to have been a

Monday only Christchurch to

Rangiora shunt that shunted Belfast

and Kaiapoi.

The only branch line in 1961 that ran off the Main North Line was the Waiau branch that closed in 1978. Here in February 1966 Ab 780 and Ab 820 approach the junction at Waipara. Tonnage from this train could have gone on to Christchurch on Train number 70 or 78. Photo Peter Parker collection

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Train #100 was another R.R. Kaikoura

to Christchurch goods shunting as

required.

Train #105 was a R.R. Mon to Thu

Christchurch to Picton goods,

shunting Waipara, Scargill, Mina,

Parnassus and north including

Waipara to Mina to put off livestock

wagons.

Train #106 R.R. was a Tue to Fri

Picton to Christchurch that shunted

as directed by the Transport Office

Blenheim and Train control.

Train #107 was a Mon to Friday

goods with car attached from

Christchurch to Picton. It took bulk

traffic for Waipara and traffic for Mina,

Kaikoura and beyond. This was the

famous Cabbage Train. It had one

R.S.W. attached for small lot traffic for

stations Oaro to Picton.

Train #108 was the opposite working

a Tues to Sat Picton to Christchurch

goods with car attached. Again this

shunted as directed by Train Control.

Train #111 was an express

Christchurch to Picton goods

restricted to bogie vehicles only for

Blenheim and beyond. It was

restricted to 20 bogie vehicles and

has an interesting note on the T.A.

that says on Friday only the load was

to be restricted to 230 tons. Why this

was for Friday only, one can only

guess.

Train #112 was the opposite working

an evening Picton to Christchurch

express goods again restricted to 20

bogie vehicles. This contained bogie

vehicles for Christchurch and points

south and west.

Train #113 was another bogie

express goods with car attached

Sunday only Christchurch to Picton

departing early morning. Again this

was restricted to 20 bogie vehicles

and carried wagons for Blenheim and

beyond.

Train #114 was the opposite Sunday

only Picton to Christchurch express

goods with car attached, carrying

wagons for Christchurch and beyond.

Train #115 was a Sunday overnight

Christchurch to Kaikoura goods

shunting as directed by Train Control

and arriving in Kaikoura

approximately 5am.

Train #116 again was the opposite

working Monday only departing

Kaikoura just after midnight and

arriving at Christchurch shortly after

7am.

Train # 203 was a Monday to Fri

Waipara to Waiau goods shunting as

required and took the R.S.W of train

77 from Christchurch as mentioned

above.

Train #206 was a Monday to Fri Waiau

to Waipara goods, it shunted as

required and had one R.S.W. to go

forward to Christchurch on Train #70

from Waipara.

Trains # 231 and #232 were R.R.

trains but Im unable to find their

origin or destination in my copy of

the Working Timetable.

Five other north line trains appear on

the train advice numbers 940, 934,

935, 939 and 949. All were marked

on the TA as shunts as required. Of

these trains my copy of the Working

Timetable shows only two.

Train # 934 was a light engine

movement departing early morning

from Blenheim to Wharanui.

Presumably this was a banking

engine for northbound trains over the

Dashwood Pass. Train #935 was a

Monday to Friday light engine

Ab 813 shunts the cool stores at Belfast on the 3rd November 1968. This was No. 2 shunting service but in 1961 it could have easily have been shunting service no. 99 that ran between Christchurch and Rangiora shunting Belfast and Kaiapoi. Photo Wilson Lythgoe.

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movement Wharanui to Blenheim.

This was again presumably the

banker returning to Blenheim after

banking southbound trains.

The train advice as it deals with

wagon allocations for various

destinations and train shunting does

not show the Passenger only services

running on the line in 1961/62.

Fiat Railcar Rm 108 crosses the Waimakariri River Bridge with presumably a Christchurch to Picton service one morning in 1967. Possibly train no. 109. Photo Peter Parker

These were the Christchurch to

Rangiora and return suburban

services, being train numbers 63, 85,

66, 68 and 86. At this time they were

shown in the working timetable as

being worked by railcars either

Fiat/Drewry 88 seaters or Vulcans.

The other straight passenger trains

on the line, were the Christchurch to

Picton Railcar services train # 109

departing Christchurch at 9.15am

and arriving in Picton at 4pm, and

finally the opposite working train #

104 departing Picton at 9.50am and

arriving Christchurch at 4.30pm.

So this is an outline of the train

services on the comparatively busy

MNL in 1961. As I mentioned

previously I will cover what the same

train advice says about the Main

South Line in the next newsletter.

With the larger number of branchlines

and industrial sites on the south line,

this has some fascinating details for

the destination and wagon

allocations for the trains on this line.

BIG MODELTRAIN SHOW

2014

While it is still a few months away Id

thought Id give a reminder to

supporters that the NRMNZ shop will

again be attending the Big Model

Train Show in October this year.

Once again the show is being held at

Pioneer Stadium.

Where Pioneer Stadium

When Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th

October 2014

Open 9:30am-5:00pm (Both days)

Prices

Adults $10

Child $5

Family Pass* $20

Adult Weekend Pass $15

*Two Adults and Two Children

Eftpos Available (no credit card)

This annual event is a major publicity

and fundraising event for the NRM

and wed love to see you there at our

sales stand at the show and to meet

some of our team. Even better if you

would like to help out on the stand

over either of the two days, please

contact Brian Wheatley at this email

address;

[email protected]

I should also mention that we still

have a limited supply of Rail 150

branded clothing from last years

celebrations, for those who missed

out at the time and would like to

purchase some.

New Zealands War Memorial

Locomotive

AB 608 Passchendaele

Published by Steam Incorporated

Edited by Andy Maciver

A4 Portrait 40 pages.

ANZAC day 2014 saw the

recommissioning at Paekakariki of

one of the most anticipated steam

loco restorations for some time, that

of Ab 608 Passchendaele (NZGR

#163 1915).

This locomotive was the first member

of the famous 151 strong Ab class,

New Zealand Government Railways

official war memorial engine of the

First World War and the only officially

named NZR locomotive of the 20th

Century. (The battle on the Western

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Front it was named after was the

place where the most New Zealanders

died in a single day during that awful

conflict). The locomotive was also

exhibited at both the Dunedin and

South Seas exhibition in 1925 and

towards the end of its life, at the NZ

Railways centennial exhibition in

Christchurch in 1963.

It is fitting then to mark the

completion of a nearly 20 year

restoration that Steam Incorporated

who now lease the locomotive from

its owners the NZRLS, have chosen to

release this excellent but inexpensive

publication.

The first sixteen or so pages give a

potted history of the locomotive

including what made the Abs such

successful and versatile locomotives.

This concludes with a brief photo

essay covering the locomotives final

significant passenger service the

1965 Alexandra Blossom Festival

train it double headed with Ab 792.

These photographs are from the

collection of NZRLS archivist Mark

Cole.

When withdrawn in October 1967 Ab

608 was in pretty rundown condition

and the second half of the book gives

a fairly comprehensive rundown of

the enormous amount of work the

team at Steam Incorporated have

made to get this locomotive

operational again.

Particular mention should be made of

the efforts of Alastair MacIver, Wayne

Mason and Peter Steer (amongst

others). The job turned out to be

much bigger than envisaged when

first started in the mid 1990s turning

a worn out wreck into what is now

almost a new locomotive. The book

illustrates almost by a step by step

process the work undertaken from

the first to the end. It is also

somehow very appropriate that the

loco was recommissioned during the

centenary of the start of t Great War.

The final two pages of photos

illustrate the recommissioning

ceremony at Paekakariki Station on

Anzac Day attended by

representatives of KiwiRail and the

New Zealand Army amongst others.

It should be mentioned of course that

Ab 608 has a significant association

with Ferrymead, where the museum

will be built, as from 1978 to 1994

the locomotive was on display in the

locomotive shelter (now the current

base for the Diesel Traction Group),

along with Kb 968, and Wab 794.

The book is digitally printed and on

the whole photo reproduction is very

good. Steam Incorporated are to be

congratulated on producing such a

reasonably priced tribute to this

important locomotive and its long

awaited return to service. The book is

available from the NRM shop at

Ferrymead at $18.00 (plus P&P).

Another locomotive shortly to return to service, 1872 built F13 passes the Christchurch Gasworks with a special in 1967. Photo Peter Parker

New Zealand Railfan June 2014

Triple M Publications

79 pages A4

The latest edition of this long running

magazine maintains the usual mix of

current events and historical articles

on the rail scene in New Zealand.

After the letters section, there are

four and a half pages of reviews of the

latest DVDs and books. Then there

are 10 pages (mostly photos) on

current rail developments including

the DL remediation progress and the

entry into traffic of the Auckland

Electric EMUs built in Spain.

Preservation Progress then covers in

three pages developments at the

Diesel Traction Group (Di 1102), the

Plains Railway (new shunter Dsa 218),

and Oamaru Steam and Rail (PWD no.

535). Also included is a page of

photos of the winners of this years

FRONZ Restoration awards.

A profusely illustrated article on

preserved English Electric Units Dm

27 and D163 and the role of the late

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Robin Gavin in saving them follows

from the pen and camera of D.L.A

Turner. This is a fascinating story

chronicling both the life of Robin and

the history of the units that she loved.

The first historical article in the

magazine is an eleven page article on

the former Waipa Railway and

Collieries Company that later became

Wilton Collieries and the Glen Massey

branch. Written by long standing

enthusiast J.A.T Terry this uses both

historical photos from various

sources and a couple from his own

camera towards the end of the lines

life. The article covers only up until

the liquidation of the company in

1930. The Wilton Colliery years of

the mine and railway are to be

covered in a separate article.

Next follows part 2 of a

comprehensive three part series on

the electrification of Aucklands Rail

system by Ken Haydock. This part

covers the engineering work on the

Eastern line and the Newmarket,

Onehunga and Manukau branches.

This really does give an idea of what

a huge project this has been and

continues to be. Again this is

profusely illustrated mostly by the

author.

The final article is another historical

item, a further instalment of John

Agnews histories of NZR carriages,

this time on the six 44 foot Railway

Travelling Post offices that were

converted to Guards vans between

1928 and 1935. This is also well

illustrated with historical photos from

various sources showing these cars in

service and after withdrawal,

including the lone survivor F583 at

Oamaru Steam and Rail. While I do

find these articles interesting and

they are undeniably a massive body

of important research by Mr Agnew, I

also think that the magazine could

perhaps give this series a rest for a

couple of issues to freshen up the

contents.

The magazine is again competently

printed by Southern Colour Print of

Dunedin and colour production is

very good. NZ Railfan can be

obtained from the NRM shop at

$15.00 plus P & P.

The former telephone exchange from the Westport Railway Station has been installed in the Ferrymead Post and Telegraph Society building as a working display. Photo Dave Hansen

The new Steam incorporated book on locomotive Ab 608 made me look for these three shots of the locomotive towards the end of its working life hauling a train on the Kurow branch line in January 1967. The locomotive was written off at Dunedin only nine months later. The top photo is waiting departure at Kurow, the centre photo is departing Duntroon and the bottom one at Duntroon station. Three photos Peter Parker collection

The Roundhouse


SUBMIT AN ARTICLE

Got something to say? Write a letter

to the editor. Want to write an

article to be published in this

newsletter, contact us about it.

Tell us about your restoration

project, explorations or research. It

is important.

Have a photo of railways

importance, submit it along with

your write-up and we may feature it.

All photos should be of print

quality, full credit will be given for

any item or picture used. We look

forward to hearing from you.

WE WANT YOUR STUFF

We want your old stuff!! If you are

having a clean out or have any

unwanted railways related items,

before you throw them out, please

contact us. If your offer is

accepted, we may even be able to

offer assistance with the cost of

getting your items to us

Almost any railway-related items can

potentially be of interest.

Photographs, historical material and

artefacts may be potentially valuable

museum exhibits. Old magazines,

books and DVD's are always in

demand in our shop. No matter how

big, small or insignificant an item

may seem to you, please let us be the

judge. Please let either Colin Dash

[email protected]

ph. 03 358-8215 or Gordon Bartram

[email protected]

ph. 03 339-2622 know.

A great source of direct contact is

always at the shop in Moorhouse

Station. Open on any Ferrymead

Railway running day, someone is

always there that you can speak to.

MONETARY DONATIONS

Monetary donations are always

acceptable for Museum purposes,

and as the Museum has a charitable

status, your donations are tax

deductible. Bequests to the museum

may be registered with your solicitors,

please ask us for the form for that

purpose.

CONTACT DETAILS

Postal:

National Railway Museum of New

Zealand

P.O. Box 19027 Woolston

Christchurch 8241

New Zealand

Email:

Chairman: John Peterson.

[email protected]

Collections: Colin Dash.

[email protected]

Publications & Sales:

[email protected]

Newsletter Editor Gordon Bartram

[email protected]

Website:

www.nzrailmuseum.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/

National-Railway-Museum-of-New-

Zealand/235087929887672?ref=pro

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Newsletter August 14

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Transcript of Newsletter August 14