Full Steam Ahead - The NZR Gang At Oamaru circa 1905

Q Class locomotive and Railway Station employees, Oamaru, circa 1905, Real phhoto postcard

A Q Class locomotive of New Zealand Railways at Oamaru, South Island  circa 1905. RPPC was sent as a Christmas greeting to family members from the gang at the Oamaru station. Sender remarks that the loco's lamp is one of the latest electric lamps from a workshop in Chicago.

Many decades later I rode the freight trains at Oamaru with my uncle who was a guard (conductor - yeah, I know no passengers so no tickets to punch; a guard "guarded" the train, not for "security" but "(rail)road" safety). By those times, diesels had taken over. Good times - toasting sandwiches on the pot belly stove in the guard's van. In the steam era, got to ride up front in the cab, shoveling some coal, blowing the whistle, hand on the throttle or whatever they call it, head out the window, cinders in the eye...

Sadly, kids can't do that anymore thanks to occupational safety and health. Go play a video game, kid. Wouldn't trade those memories for anything (sniff). God bless you Uncle Norman, up there in the big roundhouse in the sky.

The Southern Lakes - Lake Wanaka - New Zealand Railways Travel Poster - 1930s

The Southern Lakes, Lake Wanaka, New Zealand Railway,s Travel Poster - 1930s

Fiordland - New Zealand Railways Poster - circa 1930s

Fiordland - New Zealand Railways Poster - circa 1930s

click on image for larger view

Chateau Tongariro - Best Reached By Rail - Travel Poster, circa 1932

Chateau Tongariro, National Park, Central North Island, travel poster, circa 1932.

Up for some volcanic activity, some winter sport? 

Why not check into the Chateau Tongariro at National Park, in the central North Island for some seismic, vog and other volcanic fun? See the three mountains, active volcanoes: Mt Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu (ejects frequent lahars), and Mt Ngauruhoe, which last erupted in 1975. Three stalwarts of the Pacific Ring of Fire, get a front seat view.

"Best reached by rail" in 1932...

Queenstown - New Zealand Railways Travel Poster, 1930s

Queenstown, New Zealand Railways travel poster, 1930s

Queenstown in the southern lakes district of the South Island. Why not take a scenic trip by train & Railways motor (bus)?

Nowadays, the extreme sport, winter sport, night club crowd jet in or tour by air conditioned luxury coach. The hardy types cycle in across the dry landscape in summertime.

New Zealand Railways Travel Poster - Tourist Tickets - 1923

New Zealand Railways Travel Poster, 1923.

Perhaps you should buy a tourist ticket when you tour New Zealand. 

These days you may need to jump on a Kiwi Rail freight or coal train to make some connections (reduced rates apply). Or ride a bike trail where the rail bed used to be.

The Daylight Express - New Zealand Railways travel poster, 1950s

The Daylight Limited, New Zealand Railways travel poster, 1950s.

Why not ride the Daylight Limited on the North Island Main Trunk Line between Wellington and Auckland? Make a (long, bum-crunching) day of it!

Travel by Steam Train - New Zealand Railways Travel Posters, 1940s

 

New Zealand Railways travel poster, late 1940s

So how will you get to Caroline Bay, Timaru for your summer holidays? Why by steam locomotive express of course. Tripping by train may have a different meaning in the modern era, remember the Trainspotting move of the 1990s?

 

New Zealand Railways travel poster for the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition, Wellington, 1939-40.

And now it's February (1940), you can still get cheap fares to travel to the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition in Wellington where you can see the marvellous achievements of our nation over the past 100 years - and catch a rollercoaster or two.