  
ISSUE 29, SUMMER 2011/12
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 LEGACY OF THE MIDLAND LINE
Roy Sinclair takes us on a tour through the history of the railway across the Southern Alps.
Riding the rails across New Zealand’s South Island, divided at its backbone by the Southern Alps, is my long-time passion. From Christchurch, close to the Pacific Ocean, the railway gradually climbs across the Canterbury plains, 68 kilometres to Springfield. The next 70 kilometre section through the gorges and mountains to Arthur’s Pass is particularly spectacular.
The railway then plunges through the 8.5 kilometre Otira Tunnel into Westland, a landscape brilliantly punctuated by rain forests, rivers and lakes. Ninety-three kilometres from Arthur’s Pass, the railway terminates at Greymouth, close to the crashing waves from the Tasman Sea.
The railway boasts 18 tunnels and five lofty viaducts (bridges) spanning deep chasms. The 1067 mm single track follows a, sometimes, torturous course as it necessarily fits the contours of a jagged landscape.
These days the railway is frequently referred to as “The route of the TranzAlpine” owing to the popular scenic rail journey launched in 1987. Correctly, it is the Midland Line, named, presumably, after the private company that, having completed many kilometres of railway on the West Coast between 1887 and 1895, struggled to lay the first kilometres of track west of Springfield.
This wonder of railway engineering was no accident. Much of it was constructed over a century ago by determined men, often living in flimsy canvas structures in an isolated, inhospitable environment.
Read the full story on pages 32-26 in HERITAGE MATTERS magazine, Issue 29 Summer 2011/12 – on sale now at your favourite magazine retailer, or order your subscription HERE and we'll rush a copy direct to your letterbox. |
 TRAINING FOR THE GREAT WAR: THE FEATHERSTON MILITARY CAMP
By Neil Frances
The quiet rural district of Wairarapa seems an unlikely place to look for military heritage. Conflict between Maori and European was notably absent in the era of the Land Wars. There were no harbours to defend, and the permanent bases for sea, land and air forces were elsewhere.
But Wairarapa did play its part in New Zealand’s military history and the proof is a few kilometres east of Featherston on State Highway Two. An off-road parking area contains two memorials for military camps in both World Wars.
One memorial and an adjacent garden recall Featherston Prisoner of War (POW) Camp, hurriedly built in 1942 to accommodate Japanese captured in the Solomon Islands. Also recalled is the “Incident” on 25 February 1943 when, in a brief explosion of anger and cultural misunderstanding, 48 prisoners and one guard died. At its busiest the camp held about 800 prisoners, who were repatriated in December 1945.
The second memorial refers to a much larger enterprise – Featherston Military Training Camp. Opened in January 1916, this became New Zealand’s largest World War I training camp for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.
Read the full story on pages 18-22 in HERITAGE MATTERS magazine, Issue 29 Summer 2011/12 – on sale now from your favourite magazine retailer, or order your subscription HERE and we'll rush a copy direct to your letterbox. |
