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Kinleith Branch
The Kinleith Branch railway line is located in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The line was constructed by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company, Taupo Totara Timber Company and rebuilt by the Public Works Department primarily to serve the Kinleith Mill in 1952. It is in length. History The New Zealand Government Railways line to Thames was opened to Morrinsville on 1 October 1884. Taking advantage of enabling legislation, the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company originally built the line from Morrinsville as part of its planned route to Rotorua as far as Lichfield. The Morrinsville-Oxford section opened without any ceremony on 8 March 1886. NZGR took over the company on 8 March 1886, instead building the Rotorua Branch railway line from Putāruru. The section between Putāruru and Lichfield was closed by NZGR in 1897 as it served no purpose. The Taupo Totara Timber Company (TTT Company) then used the disused railway formation from Putāruru for its lightl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morrinsville
Morrinsville is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, with an estimated population of as of The town is located at the northern base of the Pakaroa Range, and on the south-western fringe of the Hauraki Plains. Morrinsville is around 33 kilometres east of Hamilton and 22 kilometres west of Te Aroha. The town is bordered by the Piako River to the east and the Waitakaruru Stream to the south. History and Culture Pre-European settlement Prior to European settlement of New Zealand, the hills around present-day Morrinsville were occupied by the Ngati Werewere Māori people of the Ngati Haua Iwi, and the site of the present-day town was on or near to an old Māori route between the upper Waihou-Piako basin and the Ngāruawāhia area. Following European settlement, some early European traders are believed to have traversed this route prior to 1834 when the Rev. J. Morgan travelled up the Piako River to near the future town site and crossed w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bush Tramway
A bush tram and line-side log hauler owned by the Tamaki Sawmill Co., Raurimu. Photographed by Albert Percy Godber circa 1917. In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, most commonly used for logging. They are distinguished from urban trams as bush tramways were predominantly for freight, usually logging in the bush, and not for passengers, and were often built in parts of the countryside that were otherwise inaccessible to transport. In some cases, such as the Kinleith Branch, bush tramways were converted to heavy rail and incorporated into the New Zealand Government Railways network. In modern parlance, both urban trams and bush tramways are known as light rail. History Although legally defined as a railway, the Dun Mountain Railway was the first industrial tramway in New Zealand, opening in 1862. The line used horses to haul mineral wagons from Dun Mountain the port of Nelson. "Bush tram" was first used to describe the horse-drawn tramw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Railway And Locomotive Society
The New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Inc is a society of railway enthusiasts, based in Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m .... It was incorporated in 1958. The society archives are in the ''Thomas McGavin Building'' on Ava railway station's former goods yard in the Hutt Valley. At one time an old railway carriage held at the Ngaio railway station was used. Publications The society publishes a magazine, the ''New Zealand Railway Observer'' (), that was first published by the New Zealand Railway Correspondence Society on a Gestetner in 1944, and a newsletter ''Turntable''. The society publishes books on railway subjects. There are currently about 25 books available, as listed on the website. Most are about New Zealand railways, but there is a bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geyserland Express
The ''Geyserland Express'' was a long distance passenger train operated by the Tranz Scenic division of Tranz Rail (previously the New Zealand Rail Limited division InterCity Rail) between Auckland and Rotorua in New Zealand's North Island. It utilised the Silver Fern railcars and operated from 9 December 1991 until 7 October 2001. Background The Rotorua Branch line had a long history of express trains between Auckland and Rotorua since the branch line opened in 1894. Until 1959, the ''Rotorua Express'' was steam-hauled and was one of New Zealand's premier trains in its heyday. It was initially only run thrice weekly in the peak Christmas and Easter period, but by 1902, it ran daily year-round, and in December 1903, dining cars were introduced. This was a rare feature for trains operated by the New Zealand Railways Department, but shortages during World War I led to their withdrawal. In the post-war period, the service was briefly cancelled in 1919, but by 1925, it was ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Control Car
A control car, cab car (North America), control trailer, or driving trailer (UK and Ireland) is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartments with all the controls and gauges required to remotely operate the locomotive, including exterior locomotive equipment such as horns, bells, ploughs, and lights. They also have communications and safety systems such as GSM-R or European Train Control System (ETCS). Control cars enable push-pull operation when located on the end of a train opposite its locomotive by allowing the train to reverse direction at a terminus without moving the locomotive or turning the train around. Control cars can carry passengers, baggage, and mail, and may, when used together with diesel locomotives, contain an engine-generator set to provide head-end power (HEP). They can also be used with a power car or a railcar. European railways have used co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Podocarpus Totara
''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and lower subalpine forest at elevations of up to 600 m. Tōtara is commonly found in lowland areas where the soil is fertile and well drained. Description The tōtara is a medium to large tree, which grows slowly to around 20 to 25 m, exceptionally to 35 m; it is noted for its longevity and the great girth of its trunk. The bark peels off in papery flakes, with a purplish to golden brown hue. The sharp, dull-green, needle-like leaves are stiff and leathery, 2 cm long. This plant produces highly modified cones with two to four fused, fleshy, berry-like, juicy scales, bright red when mature. The cone contains one or two rounded seeds at the apex of the scales. The largest known living tōtara, the Pouakani Tree, near Pureora in the ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agathis
''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely restricted to the Southern Hemisphere except for a number of extant Malesian ''Agathis''.de Laubenfels, David J. 1988. Coniferales. P. 337–453 in Flora Malesiana, Series I, Vol. 10. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic. Description Mature kauri trees have characteristically large trunks, with little or no branching below the crown. In contrast, young trees are normally conical in shape, forming a more rounded or irregularly shaped crown as they achieve maturity.Whitmore, T.C. 1977. ''A first look at Agathis''. Tropical Forestry Papers No. 11. University of Oxford Commonwealth Forestry Institute. The bark is smooth and light grey to grey-brown, usually peeling into irregular flakes that become thicker on more mature trees. The branch struc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piako River
The Piako River is a lowland river system that drains into the Firth of Thames on the North Island of New Zealand. Together with the Waihou River, it is one of the two main rivers systems which drains the Hauraki Plains. It is the dominant river system in the Matamata-Piako District, and on its journey it passes through the towns of Morrinsville and Ngatea. The Piako River has an annual mean flow of (at Paeroa-Tahuna Road), with a total catchment area of approximately . The river system is approximately long, aligned in a north-south direction and occupies much of the central and western Hauraki Plains (or more broadly, the Thames Valley), extending from Hinuera in the south before discharging into the Firth of Thames in the north, five kilometres west of Thames. The Piako River has two major stems: the first, and main, stem drains the northern Te Miro-Tahuroa hills, and the Pakaroa Range. The dominant tributaries on the eastern slopes of these hills are the Piakonui and Pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokoroa
Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the Mamaku Ranges, it is midway between Taupo and Hamilton on State Highway 1. History and culture Early history Tokoroa was the name of a chief of the Ngāti Kahupungapunga, who was slain by Raukawa during the siege of Pōhaturoa, a volcanic plug adjacent to Atiamuri, 27 km south of Tokoroa. This battle took place around 1600 as the Ngāti Raukawa moved into the southern Waikato. The name ''Tokoroa'' first appeared on the early maps of the 1860s, although this was for an area 50 km north east of today's Tokoroa. Foundations, growth and decline Tokoroa is one of the most recent towns in New Zealand history. The township was established (circa) 1917 by the Matarawa Land Company as a potential farming area; a few families h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marton–New Plymouth Line
The Marton–New Plymouth line (MNPL) is a secondary main line railway in the North Island of New Zealand that links the Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui regions. It branches from the North Island Main Trunk railway (NIMT) at Marton and runs near the South Taranaki Bight of the west coast before turning inland, meeting the Stratford–Okahukura Line (SOL) at Stratford and running to New Plymouth. Construction of the line was completed in 1885, and along with the SOL it provided an alternate route to the NIMT from the SOL's completion in 1933 until the latter was mothballed in 2010. In its early days it was plied by the North Island's first regional express, the New Plymouth Express, but it has been freight only since the cancellation of the last passenger services in 1977. Construction Construction of the line commenced in the mid-1870s from both the southern and northern ends. The line was completed when the two ends met between Hāwera and Manutahi in 1885. Southe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taranaki
Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth District is home to more than 65 per cent of the population of Taranaki. New Plymouth is in North Taranaki along with Inglewood and Waitara. South Taranaki towns include Hāwera, Stratford, Eltham, and Ōpunake. Since 2005, Taranaki has used the promotional brand "Like no other". Geography Taranaki is on the west coast of the North Island, surrounding the volcanic peak of Mount Taranaki. The region covers an area of 7258 km2. Its large bays north-west and south-west of Cape Egmont are North Taranaki Bight and South Taranaki Bight. Mount Taranaki is the second highest mountain in the North Island, and the dominant geographical feature of the region. A Māori legend says that Mount Taranaki previously lived with the Tongariro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
