1908 First train runs length of main trunk line

The first train to travel the length of the North Island main trunk line, the ‘Parliament Special’ left Wellington on the evening of 7 August. On board were Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward and other members of Parliament, who were heading to Auckland to greet the American navy’s ‘Great White Fleet’.

The train travelled over a temporary, unballasted track in the central section of the still-unfinished main trunk line. It was hauled in turn by locomotives from the Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company, New Zealand Railways, the Public Works Department and New Zealand Railways again. It completed the trip in 20½ hours.

The main trunk was not formally opened until 6 November, when Ward drove home a final polished silver spike at Manganuioteao, near Erua. Regular services began soon after, and an express train introduced in February 1909 made the trip in 18 hours.

Image: the ‘Parliament Special’ – follow link to see this image and hear the railway guard describe the journey.