Waimea Plains Railway
The Waimea Plains Railway was a secondary railway line (not a branch line) that linked the towns of Lumsden and Gore in northern Southland, New Zealand. It skirted the Hokonui Hills, and operated as a through route between 31 July 1880 and 1 April 1971, with the short section from Lumsden to Balfour continuing as the Balfour Branch until 15 January 1978. Construction The Waimea Plains Railway was built in order to improve communication between Dunedin and the Lake Wakatipu district. At the time, construction of the Otago Central Railway had barely begun and the only other way to reach the region by rail – the most efficient form of transport in the days before modern road transport – involved a detour south via Invercargill. The Waimea Plains Railway Company was formed in 1878 in New Zealand under the District Railways Act of 1877, and began construction on 11 January 1879. The easy terrain meant construction was swift, with the last rail laid on 24 May 1880 and the offi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Zealand Liberal Party
The New Zealand Liberal Party was the first organised political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. The Liberal strategy was to create a large class of small land-owning farmers who supported Liberal ideals, by buying large tracts of Māori land and selling it to small farmers on credit. The Liberal Government also established the basis of the later welfare state, with old age pensions, developed a system for settling industrial disputes, which was accepted by both employers and trade unions. In 1893 it extended voting rights to women, making New Zealand the first country in the world to enact universal adult suffrage. New Zealand gained international attention for the Liberal reforms, especially how the state regulated labour relations. It was innovating in the areas of maximum hour regulations and compulsory arbitration procedures. Under the Liberal administration the country also became the first to implement a minimum wage and to give women the right ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NZR K Class (1877)
The NZR K class of 1877 was the first example of American-built locomotives to be used on New Zealand's rail network. Their success coloured locomotive development in New Zealand until the end of steam. History In 1877, the new Chief Mechanical Engineer of the NZR, Allison D. Smith, required additional motive power for the fledgling Government system. It had been intended to order more J Class locomotives that were of English design. American civil engineer Walton W. Evans had been promoting the advantages of U.S.-built engines to railways of South America and further abroad. His efforts, having secured an order of two locomotives for Australia's Victorian Railways the previous year, had enticed Smith (see Vogel railways), and an order was placed with the Rogers Locomotive Works of New Jersey, for two tender locomotives with a wheel arrangement of 2-4-2. The initial two Rogers locos were ordered prior to Smith’s appointment as Locomotive Engineer on 10 April 1877 (he h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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NZR Ab Class
The NZR AB class was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national railway system for New Zealand Railways (NZR). Originally an improvement on the 1906 A class, 141 were built between 1915 and 1927 by NZR's Addington Workshops, A & G Price of Thames, New Zealand, and North British Locomotive Company, making the AB class the largest class of steam locomotives ever to run in New Zealand. An additional eleven were rebuilt from the tank version of the AB – the WAB class – between 1947 and 1957. Two North British-made locomotives were lost in the wreck of the ''SS Wiltshire'' in May 1922. Construction and design The genesis of the AB class originated from the construction of A class 4-6-2 No. 409 at Addington Railway Workshops in 1906. A two-cylinder simple-expansion locomotive, 409 was initially classified AB to differentiate it from the four-cylinder compound A and AD class locomotives, which were by and large of a similar design ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kingston Flyer
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It used 14 kilometres of preserved track that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch. Originally, Kingston Flyer was a passenger express train between Kingston, Gore, Invercargill, and less frequently, Dunedin. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways (NZR) from the 1890s to 1957. In 1971, NZR revitalised the service as a tourist venture, later leasing the locomotives and rolling stock in 1982 to a private company. Since then, the Kingston Flyer has been through a number of owners, most recently being owned by the Kingston Flyer Ltd. A group of volunteers has restored the railway, rolling stock and locomotives to service. In July 2021 the Kingston Flyer received resource consent to operate, initially for tour groups. History The Kingston Flyer was introduced in the late 1890s as New Zealand recovered from the Long Depression of the 1880s. During the Long D ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kingston Flyer (train)
The Kingston Flyer is a vintage steam train in the South Island of New Zealand at the southern end of Lake Wakatipu. It used 14 kilometres of preserved track that once formed a part of the Kingston Branch (New Zealand), Kingston Branch. Originally, Kingston Flyer was a passenger express train between Kingston, New Zealand, Kingston, Gore, New Zealand, Gore, Invercargill, and less frequently, Dunedin. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department, New Zealand Railways (NZR) from the 1890s to 1957. In 1971, NZR revitalised the service as a tourist venture, later leasing the locomotives and rolling stock in 1982 to a private company. Since then, the Kingston Flyer has been through a number of owners, most recently being owned by the Kingston Flyer Ltd. A group of volunteers has restored the railway, rolling stock and locomotives to service. In July 2021 the Kingston Flyer received resource consent to operate, initially for tour groups. History The Kingston Flyer was introd ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Long Depression
The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1896, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been experiencing strong economic growth fueled by the Second Industrial Revolution in the decade following the American Civil War. The episode was labeled the "Great Depression" at the time, and it held that designation until the Great Depression of the 1930s. Though a period of general deflation and a general contraction, it did not have the severe economic retrogression of the Great Depression. It was most notable in Western Europe and North America, at least in part because reliable data from the period is most readily available in those parts of the world. The United Kingdom is often considered to have been the hardest hit; during this period it lost some of its large industrial lead over the economies of continental Europe. While it was occurring, th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mossburn Branch
The Mossburn Branch was a branch line railway in New Zealand from Lumsden, New Zealand, Lumsden on the Kingston Branch (New Zealand), Kingston Branch to the town of Mossburn in northern Southland Region, Southland. Construction began in 1879, Mossburn was reached in 1887, and the line closed in 1982. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department. Construction The line was intended to open up land to the west of Lumsden and perhaps even reach Manapouri or Te Anau in Fiordland. Construction began in July 1879 and the line left the Kingston Branch just outside the north side of Lumsden at a location named Mararoa Junction that was simply a set of railroad switch, points. The only real obstacle was the Ōreti River, which was crossed by the end of March 1880, though an 1880 Royal Commission into New Zealand's railways was so unimpressed by the line's prospects that it declared "the railway bridge over the Oreti should be decked over and thrown open for Wagon, dray traffic." ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kingston Branch (New Zealand)
The Kingston Branch was a major railway line in Southland, New Zealand. It formed part of New Zealand's national rail network for over a century: construction began in 1864, Kingston was reached in 1878, and it closed in 1979. For much of its life, it was considered a secondary main line rather than a branch line, and in its earlier years, it was sometimes known as the "Great Northern Railway". Today, the southern portion now forms a part of the Wairio Branch and the northernmost 14 kilometres was used by the Kingston Flyer. Construction The Kingston Branch was built to be a main line north from Invercargill to improve communications through the Southland region, and to provide a link to the Central Otago gold fields. The provincial government of Southland was not very wealthy, and for this reason, a proposal claiming that the railway would be cheaper if built with wooden rails was accepted. A 12-kilometre line between Invercargill and Makarewa was opened on 18 Octobe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waikaia Branch
The Waikaia Branch, also known as the Switzers Branch, was a branch line railway in Southland, New Zealand. Proposed as early as the 1870s, it was not opened until 1909 and was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department for half a century until its closure in 1959. Construction In the late 1870s, proposals for a railway line to or through Waikaia (then Switzers) and environs were seriously considered. These proposals were as part of the Waimea Plains Railway to link Gore on the Main South Line with Lumsden on the Kingston Branch and featured either a circuitous line that passed through Waikaia, or a direct line with a branch to Waikaia."Projected Railways" ''Otago Witness'' 1369 (23 February 1878): 3. The Waimea Plains Railway was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Riversdale, New Zealand
Riversdale is a small town in the Southland region of New Zealand. Geography Riversdale is located between the Hokonui Hills and the Mataura River in the heart of the Waimea Plains, and is roughly equidistant between Gore and Lumsden on State Highway 94, the main road linking Gore with the tourist destination of Milford Sound. In terms of climate, Riversdale has a temperate oceanic climate grading onto a continental climate more commonly found in Central Otago, with cold, wet winters and warm summers. The Riversdale region is one of the few areas in Southland prone to drought during the summer months. Demographics Riversdale is described as a rural settlement by Statistics New Zealand. It covers , and is part of the much larger Riversdale-Piano Flat statistical area. Riversdale had a population of 408 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 9 people (2.3%) since the 2013 census, and unchanged since the 2006 census. There were 168 households. There were 207 males ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mandeville, New Zealand
Mandeville is a settlement in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mandeville is 17 km north west of Gore. Dunedin and Invercargill are the nearest cities. Mandeville is part of the wider Waikaka statistical area. See also * Mandeville Aerodrome * Croydon Aircraft Company The Croydon Aircraft Company is an aircraft company in New Zealand. Its main activities include restoring vintage aircraft, providing scenic and aerial experience flights in vintage aircraft, and providing pilot training in vintage aircraft. I ... References External links Gore District CouncilGoogle Map {{Gore District Populated places in Southland, New Zealand ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |