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Tangiwai Disaster
The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriages derailed into the river, killing 151 people. The subsequent board of inquiry found that the accident was caused by the collapse of the tephra dam holding back nearby Mount Ruapehu's crater lake, creating a rapid mudflow (lahar) in the Whangaehu River, which destroyed one of the bridge piers at Tangiwai only minutes before the train reached the bridge. The volcano itself was not otherwise erupting at the time. The disaster remains New Zealand's worst rail accident. Bridge collapse On 24 December 1953, the 3 p.m. express train from Wellington to Auckland consisted of a KA class steam locomotive hauling eleven carriages: five second class, four first-class, a guard's van and a postal van. With 285 passengers and crew, the train wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NZDT
Time in New Zealand is divided by law into two standard time zones. The main islands use New Zealand Standard Time (NZST), 12 hours in advance of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) / military M (Mike), while the outlying Chatham Islands use Chatham Standard Time (CHAST), 12 hours 45 minutes in advance of UTC / military M^ (Mike-Three). During summer months – from the last Sunday in September until the first Sunday in April – daylight saving time is observed and clocks are advanced one hour. New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT) is 13 hours ahead of UTC, and Chatham Daylight Time (CHADT) 13 hours 45 minutes ahead. New Zealand's associated states – the Cook Islands and Niue – and the dependent territory of Tokelau use several different time zones at their own discretion. History On 2 November 1868, New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally, and was the first country to do so, about fifteen years before any other. Chatham Island was 45 minutes a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steam Locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomotive's boiler to the point where it becomes gaseous and its volume increases 1,700 times. Functionally, it is a steam engine on wheels. In most locomotives, the steam is admitted alternately to each end of its cylinders, in which pistons are mechanically connected to the locomotive's main wheels. Fuel and water supplies are usually carried with the locomotive, either on the locomotive itself or in a tender coupled to it. Variations in this general design include electrically-powered boilers, turbines in place of pistons, and using steam generated externally. Steam locomotives were first developed in the United Kingdom during the early 19th century and used for railway transport until the middle of the 20th century. Richard Trevith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waiouru Army Camp
Waiouru Military Camp is a camp of the New Zealand Army in the central North Island of New Zealand near Waiouru. All New Zealand Army soldiers complete their initial basic training, the All Arms Recruit Course (AARC), at Waiouru Military Camp. The camp is also the site of the army marae. The marae is the home of ''Ngati Tumatauenga'', literally 'the tribe of the God of War', the Māori phrase for the New Zealand Army. Military camp The New Zealand government chose the sheep station at Waiouru as the location of a North Island training area for its Territorial Forces in the 1930s. The sheep station had large areas of inexpensive open land, and existing road and rail access to the North Island coastline. The artillery was the first branch of the New Zealand Army to use Waiouru. In 1937, Waiouru farmhand Cedric Arthur wrote: :''The Military (artillery) Camp is here again for its annual big shoot, so Waiouru is exceedingly busy with huge lorries, tractors, guns and horses, not to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waiouru
Waiouru is a small town in the Ruapehu District, in New Zealand's Manawatū-Whanganui region. It is located on the south-eastern North Island Volcanic Plateau, north of Palmerston North and 25 kilometres south-east of Mount Ruapehu. The town had a population of 765 in the 2018 census. The main attraction of Waiouru is the National Army Museum, opened in 1978, which features static displays of New Zealand's military heritage. The rest of the township consists of a small cluster of a police station, two garages, a petrol station/postal agency, a panel beater, two motels, a tavern and half a dozen cafe/restaurants spread along the highway. There are three unmanned diesel refueling sites for the 700+ big freight trucks that pass through Waiouru each day. Nearby are the yards of a roading contractor and a maintenance contractor. A grocery store, hairdresser and beautician are in the Army housing area two kilometres away, and a medical centre, public library, cafe and department s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Philip, Karori Cemetery, 1953
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The female equivalent is a princess. The English word derives, via the French word ''prince'', from the Latin noun , from (first) and (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble ruler, prince". Historical background The Latin word (older Latin *prīsmo-kaps, literally "the one who takes the first lace/position), became the usual title of the informal leader of the Roman senate some centuries before the transition to empire, the '' princeps senatus''. Emperor Augustus established the formal position of monarch on the basis of principate, not dominion. He also tasked his grandsons as summer rulers of the city when most of the government were on holiday in the country or attending religious rituals, and, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Union Of South Africa
The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River colonies. It included the territories that were formerly a part of the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Following World War I, the Union of South Africa was a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles and became one of the founding members of the League of Nations. It was conferred the administration of South West Africa (now known as Namibia) as a League of Nations mandate. It became treated in most respects as another province of the Union, but it never was formally annexed. Like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the Union of South Africa was a self-governing dominion of the British Empire. Its full sovereignty was confirmed with the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westmins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Test Cricket
Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last for up to five days. In the past, some Test matches had no time limit and were called Timeless Tests. The term "test match" was originally coined in 1861–62 but in a different context. Test cricket did not become an officially recognised format until the 1890s, but many international matches since 1877 have been retrospectively awarded Test status. The first such match took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 1877 between teams which were then known as a Combined Australian XI and James Lillywhite's XI, the latter a team of visiting English professionals. Matches between Australia and England were first called "test matches" in 1892. The first definitive list of retrospective Tests was written by South Australian jour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Blair (cricketer)
Robert William Blair (born 23 June 1932) is a former cricketer who played 19 Test matches for New Zealand. Cricket career Blair was a fast bowler who was never quite able to carry his enormous success for Wellington in the Plunket Shield over into the Test arena. In 59 matches for Wellington from 1951–52 to 1964–65 he took 330 wickets at an average of 15.16. In his best season, he took 46 wickets in the five matches of 1956–57 at an average of 9.47, twice taking nine wickets in an innings. The next season, he took 34 at 11.20, then in a trial match at the end of the season he took five wickets in each innings for North Island against South Island. But in the series that followed a few months later in England, he took only three wickets in three Tests, at an average of 70. He achieved his best Test match figures, 7 for 142, in what turned out to be his last Test, against South Africa at Auckland in 1963–64. Blair holds the record for the lowest career batting average ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railway Coupling
A coupling (or a coupler) is a mechanism typically placed at each end of a rolling stock, railway vehicle that connects them together to form a train. A variety of coupler types have been developed over the course of railway history. Key issues in their design include strength, reliability, ease of making connections and operator safety. The equipment that connects the couplings to the vehicles is the draft gear or draw gear and these must absorb the stresses of coupling and train acceleration. Nomenclature Compatible and similar couplings or couplers are frequently referred to using widely differing make, brand, or regional names, or nicknames, which can make describing standard or typical designs confusing. Dimensions and ratings noted in these articles are usually of nominal or typical components and systems, though standards and practices also vary widely with railway, region, and era. Buffers and chain The basic type of coupling on railways following the British trad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fireman (steam Engine)
A fireman, stoker or watertender is a person whose occupation it is to tend the fire for the running of a boiler, heating a building, or powering a steam engine. Much of the job is hard physical labor, such as shoveling fuel, typically coal, into the boiler's firebox. On steam locomotives the title ''fireman'' is usually used, while on steamships and stationary steam engines, such as those driving saw mills, the title is usually ''stoker'' (although the British Merchant Navy did use ''fireman''). The German word ''Heizer'' is equivalent and in Dutch the word ''stoker'' is mostly used too. The United States Navy referred to them as ''watertenders''. Nautical Royal Navy The Royal Navy used the rank structure ordinary stoker, stoker, leading stoker, stoker petty officer and chief stoker. The non-substantive (trade) badge for stokers was a ship's propeller. Stoker remains the colloquial term used to refer to a marine engineering rating, despite the decommissioning of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Train Driver
A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a person who drives a train, multiple unit or a locomotive. The driver is in charge of, and is responsible for the mechanical operation of the train, train speed, and all of the train handling (also known as brake handling). In American English, a hostler (also known as a switcher) moves engines around rail yards, but does not take them out on the normal tracks; the British English equivalent is a shunter. Train drivers must follow certain guidelines for driving a train safely. For instance, in general, train drivers are encouraged to favour longer stopping distances as this promotes vehicle health, safety, and passenger comfort. Career progression For many American railroads, the following career progression is typical: assistant conductor ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ohakune Railway Station
Ohakune railway station is a station on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT), it served the town of Ohakune in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. It was called Ohakune Junction from 10 August 1926 until Raetihi Branch closed in 1968, to avoid confusion with Ohakune Town station on that branch. It was the second highest operating railway station in New Zealand, after National Park. When the Overlander was replaced by the Northern Explorer in 2012, the service to Ohakune was reduced to one train a day on six days a week. Scheduled services to Ohakune were suspended from December 2021 to 25 September 2022. History The Class B station was built about 1908 and was important in the growth of Ohakune. Trains calling have included The Overlander, Blue Streak, Scenic Daylight, Daylight Limited, Northerner, Silver Star and Night Limited. Surveying for the route between Hīhītahi and Piriaka began in 1894. The first trains reached Ohakune when the railhead was ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
