publication

The front page of The Gymeric Times, April 1900. It was written on board the ship Gymeric.

The newspaper was contributed by Winston Mackley of Takapuna, Auckland. His father, Private James Forester Mackley, travelled on the Gymeric with No. 8 Company, Fourth Contingent.

Transcript

Bolding not in original

The Gymeric Times

Printed and published on board H.M. Troopship Gymeric during the voyage from New Zealand to South Africa, and

This striking image of a train riding high over the Makohine Viaduct on the North Island main trunk was designed by leading Railways Studio artist Stanley Davis. It appeared, in different colours, on the cover of the first six issues of the New Zealand Railways Magazine in 1926.

Several serialised features from the New Zealand Railways Magazine were republished as booklets. These included James Cowan’s guide to Maori railway station names and, as seen here, his surveys of the historical and scenic delights on the main trunk lines of the North and South islands.

In the late 1930s the first Labour government strongly promoted New Zealand's publicly owned rail system as a key driver of economic development. This 1938 advertisement from the New Zealand Railways Magazine, starring one of the big K-class locomotives introduced earlier that decade, trumpets New Zealand Railways' commitment to safety, comfort and efficiency.

By 1935 the New Zealand Railways Magazine had grown to 64 pages, promising more ‘travel, sport, humour, thrills’ for its expanding readership. The magazine’s circulation peaked at over 26,000 around this time.

Cover of Rugby News (UK), June 1987

The dots on the map, at first glance, mark the cities where matches were played. Yet there are three in far north Queensland and one in Central Otago where no matches were played. Also, several actual New Zealand venues are missing. Was it drawn by someone who did not know Antipodean geography?