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This 1948 documentary follows 24 hours of work on the railways. It was directed for the National Film Unit by New Zealand’s first female film director, Margaret Thomson. It shows the engines and commuter trains preparing to leave Wellington, and the overnight train arriving from Auckland. Workers toil on the railway lines above the remote Waimakariri Gorge, and the town of Otira gets ready for a dance. The final shots are of an engine coming through the dawn and back to the city.
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I'm a Loco Engineer myself, but my days are nowehere near as hard as these guys had it way back then!
As an ex footplate person I recall all of this, we were a fit lot in those days...the Wab class at the start of this film was really special, these were great locomotives...
Very nostalgic, I remember seeing this NZNFU short in a picture theatre when I was much younger, also travelled the main trunk many times when steam was king. Thankyou.
"Time for refreshments"
I would hate to add up all the hours I spent trying to sleep on the "Limited" while traveling from Palmerston North and Auckland.
Always waking up with all the noises that were made while trying to get up the "Spiral"
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NZ ON SCREEN 2013
This website has been made with funding from NZ ON AIR ›
The synopsis and credits are included
Trevor Ayson
Posted at 09.33AM - 02.05.2013
Interesting. Sounds like Selwyn Toogood narrating. My parents travelled on trains in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, although my mum has told me she was glad to see the back of steam trains (ie when they were withdrawn from service) because the soot and steam made train stations dirty places!