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Bere Ferrers rail accident
Ten New Zealand soldiers were killed when they were hit by a train at Bere Ferrers in the United Kingdom. The accident occurred as troops from the 28th Reinforcements, NZEF, were being transported from Plymouth to Sling Camp on Salisbury Plain.
Rail tragedy on the Rimutaka Incline
Four children were killed and 13 adults injured when two rail carriages were blown off the tracks by severe winds on a notoriously exposed part of the Rimutaka Incline railway. This was the first major loss of life on New Zealand’s railways.
Ōtira rail tunnel opened
The 8.5-km Ōtira tunnel, which pierced the Southern Alps and linked Christchurch with Greymouth, was formally opened by Prime Minister William Massey. At the time it was the longest tunnel in the southern hemisphere, the longest in the British Empire, and the sixth-longest in the world.
Hyde railway disaster memorial
The memorial cairn to the 21 people killed in the Hyde railway tragedy of 4 June 1943.
Railway workers at Chain Hills tunnel
Photo of railway construction workers at Chain Hills tunnel, Otago, about 1874.
Early railway construction workers
Photograph of early railway construction workers
New Zealand's first railway, Christchurch, 1863
Painting showing a train arriving at Ferrymead in December 1863
Vogel-era locomotive
Video of the locomotive used on the first rail trip between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1878.
Invitation to the Dunedin-Christchurch rail link banquet
In September 1878 Dunedin's mayor hosted a lavish banquet to celebrate the opening of the city's rail link with Christchurch.
D-class locomotive
An early locomotive engine now on display at Helensville.
Turning the 'first sod' of the Temuka-Timaru railway, 1871
Image of the lifting of the first sod for the Temuka and Timaru railway at a ceremony on 4 October 1871.
Vogel's legacy
After the initial enthusiasm of the 1870s, Julius Vogel’s reputation suffered in the 1880s when New Zealand’s economy slumped into a long depression that was triggered by an international banking crisis.
Building Vogel's railways
Julius Vogel wasn’t the first colonial politician to promise public works and immigration on the back of borrowed money. But the early 1870s offered better prospects for success.
Vogel's vision
In June 1870, Vogel unveiled the most ambitious public works and assisted-immigration programme in New Zealand’s history.
New Zealand in 1870 - the Vogel era
Three decades after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s two main islands were like two different countries.
The Vogel era
In 1870, Colonial Treasurer Julius Vogel launched the most ambitious development programme in New Zealand’s history. The ‘Vogel era’ was a decisive moment in New Zealand’s 19th-century transformation from a Māori world to a Pākehā one.
Dunedin railway station war memorial
Dunedin railway station war memorial.
Otahuhu railway workshops war memorial
The Otahuhu Railway Workshops war memorial sundial.
Steam locomotive sets world speed record
The Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR) Company’s locomotive No. 10 established a world speed record for the narrow 3 foot 6 inch (1067 mm) gauge, averaging 68 km per hour on a two-hour run and hitting a peak speed of 103 kph.
Manawatū rail link opened
Built by the privately owned Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company (WMR), the line would help open the Kapiti Coast, Horowhenua and Manawatū to European settlement in the late 19th century.

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