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Journeying With Railways in New Zealand by Roy Sinclair Soft Cover 1997 276 Pgs
Journeying With Railways in New Zealand by Roy Sinclair Soft Cover 1997 276 Page
IF I HAVE to be a "nutter" to be interested in railways, then I will be a nutter,' a determined 58-year-old Christchurch woman told me. I met her on a steam excursion, standing out on the open platform of a swaying veteran carriage. Our faces were visibly blackening as we savoured the sounds and smells of a J class 4-8-2 heading through a series of tunnels above the Waimakariri Gorge. Her husband, I had noticed, was sitting alone inside, protected to a degree from the swirling steam and soot. This woman told me she was continuing a family fascination with railways started on 10 May 1869 when her grandfather, George Henry Manley, hired from the Crewe Locomotive Works in Cheshire, England, was at the driving of the golden spike at Promontory. That event signified the completion of the first American transcontinental railroad, which united the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads. And, she said, her grandfather is among the Promontory celebrating crowd caught in the famous H.J. Russell photograph. If she had to become a nutter to keep that fascination alive, then, 'so what!'
Her name was Joy Barcham, and later in the day when she was invited to ride on the loco, her face became even blacker and her smile broader.
If Joy has a justified passion for steam train journeys, so has everyone else in Journeying with Railways. For this is a book about passions; about people who, often unashamedly, have expressed a passion for railways. The stories start and end with some of my own heartfelt experiences: beginning at Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps during the 1950s and concluding with my meeting people down the North Island Main Trunk in 1996. In between, I journey to discover a cross-section of railway people and enjoy sitting down to share their stories, or riding with them in their loco cabs. Some are enthusiasts; others talk with pride about working on railways during a past era. Some love to hate railways, while yet others have protested at the closing of railways. In meeting them, I believe I have been in touch with some of the very best New Zealanders as they unravelled a stunning replica of New Zealand life and folklore.
New Zealand's railways, founded in 1863, were in public ownership for 130 years. During that time the New Zealand Railways (NZR), employing huge numbers of people (about 25,000 in 1950), existed to provide services to develop the country, regardless of the high costs involved. Those days everyone else, businesses and farmers in particular, benefited admirably at the expense of the busy railway system. Then, in 1993, New Zealand's railways and Cook Strait ferries were sold for NZ$400 million as one big train-set to a consortium led by Edward Burkhardt, president of the United States railroad, Wisconsin Central Transportation. Other partners were the Boston investment company, Berkshire Partners; and New Zealand merchant banker, Fay Richwhite.
The new consortium, known as Tranz Rail, working strictly as a commercial enterprise and employing about 4000 staff, successfully operates a burgeoning freight-hauling business, metro train services, and a network of long-distance scenic rail journeys aimed at providing a leisure-travel experience. These days the TranzAlpine Express, running from Christchurch to Greymouth, can confidently be ranked among the world's top ten rail journeys. Other rail journeys are also gaining attention, especially from overseas visitors who have experienced excellent rail services in Europe, the United States, Japan and Australia.
Each year Tranz Rail's operating profits increase and each year we see a more productive and a more secure rail network.
Never, since brave pioneer New Zealanders laid their first railway tracks, has there been such promise for the future for New Zealand's railways, released as they are from the shackles of sometimes erratic and uninformed politicians. And while looking towards a reassuring future, it is also an appropriate time to take stock of a bygone age when railways existed for very different reasons. So let us sit back and enjoy past and present splendidly running side by side on well-laid tracks.
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