The Telefunken Railroad narrow gauge railway was constructed in 1914 and connected the waterfront at

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

and a wireless station on

Mount Vaea Mount Vaea is a 472 m summit overlooking Apia, the capital of Samoa located on the north central coast of Upolu island. The mountain is situated south about 3 km inland from Apia township and harbour. The settlement at the foothills on ...

German Samoa German Samoa (german: Deutsch-Samoa) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state of Samoa, formerly ''Western Samoa''. Samoa was the last ...

History

In 1914, the Germans began construction of a light railway on

Upolu Upolu is an island in Samoa, formed by a massive basaltic shield volcano which rises from the seafloor of the western Pacific Ocean. The island is long and in area, making it the second largest of the Samoan Islands by area. With approximatel ...

, the main island of

, to transport building material from the waterfront at

to the wireless station. The railway was inaugurated on 1 August 1914, just as

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began. The railway was approximately long, or including the various branches to the coconut plantations. A petrol locomotive engine, which had probably been manufactured by

Motorenfabrik Oberursel Motorenfabrik Oberursel A.G. was a German manufacturer of automobile, locomotive and aircraft engines situated in Oberursel (Taunus), near Frankfurt (Main), Germany. During World War I it supplied a major 100 hp-class rotary engine that was us ...

for the Telefunken Wireless Co., was capable of hauling a maximum load of five tons at a top speed of .''Evening Post'', 11 November 1914.
Retrieved on 29 July 2018.Jens Merte

Retrieved on 29 July 2018. German Samoa was occupied on 30 August 1914 by an expeditionary force sent from New Zealand. When the New Zealand Railway engineers unit of the 3rd Auckland Regiment arrived in Samoa, the line was in disrepair, but a gang of surfacemen, under Lieutenant Christophers, lifted, ballasted and relaid the rails. A frequent service was instituted, and for several days the ‘train’ averaged 30 trips per day between Apia and to Vaea Camp, where the Railway Corps was encamped. The engine was quickly rebranded N.Z.R. and christened ''A1'', but the men missed the omission of the customary whistle of an ‘A’ class engine. Two enginemen were thus requested to arrange to have a whistle affixed to the engine. It was difficult to re-commission the wireless station because essential parts had been removed by the Germans. The petroleum engine of the Apia master butcher's ice cream machine was confiscated and attempts made to use it to power the station. It turned out to be far too weak. After reinstalling the regulator parts that the Germans had removed, the original glow-head diesel engine started suddenly, but since the regulator had not been set accurately, it ran at much too high revolutions and the flywheel exploded. A part of the flywheel broke through the roof, reached the tower at a height of 75 m, bent it, fell down and amputated the leg of a station worker. The repair of the station had become a matter of prestige for the English, New Zealand and Australian forces. Despite being discrete, the failed attempts to repair the station had not gone unnoticed by Samoans and the reputation of the occupying forces suffered.Maritime Radio: Apia Radio (Samoa).
Retrieved on 29 July 2018. The New Zealand railwaymen built additional track to the camps established at Vaea and Malifa. During the occupation, the railway was used for hauling ammunition, ballast and camp material, including timber for the tents and shingle for the roads in the new camps, and at the wireless station. The ‘Apia Express’ was also used by the troops for regular outings on a Sunday when they were on leave.''The Railwaymen in Samoa.''
NZ National Army Museum. Retrieved on 29 July 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoa, Telefunken Railroad Transport buildings and structures in Samoa 2 ft gauge railways