some old local articles

i recently bought my dad a few copies of an old local magazine called "photo news". they produced photos specific to towns and regions throughout the country and are rare as hens teeth these days, with some paying up to $10 a copy. the original price was 2'6.
the local "branch" operated from 1959 to 1970. this encompasses my parents teenage years.

stories included local wedding, christenings, parades, pet shows and teenage dances etc. also included are stories for local clubs and any other exciting events that happened that month. also photos from the cities very early days.

in one issue, i found these two stories. [july 1960 issue]

k919 loco is presumed scrapped, having been withdrawn in 1965. london street is one of the longest straights of track in town. back in the day, there used to be a station about half way along, which is now gone.
   

the model engineering club was the fore-runner to the club i belong to today. their land and original clubrooms are the ones we use now, and the old track bed still exists in the section behind, though the track is gone now. [was lifted and sold to raise funds not long before i joined] i am not familiar with any of the names or faces in the photos.
   

[Super]

How cool is that to have such a history of your club recorded in old print, that is so neat, thanks for sharing this Sun

Those are very cool photos although it's a little sad to see that steam locomotive lifted off the rails and heading for the scrap yard.

funnily enough, OTR, in the photo, it was being rescued after coming Off The Rails. this was 5 years before it was scrapped. it amazes me the number of people that turned out to see that, given a similar re-railing of a diesel barely even manages to get the local railfans attentions.

if you click the yellow bar above the pics, it shows the original size, allowing the captions to be read.

there is a worse photo on the cover of one issue... an old dis-used boxcar being disposed by being burned down.

Interesting picture of that loco, was that a locally built model or one imported maybe from the UK? I'm curious as it looks incredibly like an A1/A3 type loco (aka Flying Scotsman class).

Although I'm sure some characteristics of loco's were copied here and there, but the slopped sides near the cab and the wheel arrangement looks very Scotsman to me

it was built at the hutt workshops in 1935. chances are some designs would have been mimicked from overseas, though scaled down quite a bit. im guessing we imported some engines very early on, otherwise how would the guys have learned how to build them?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NZR_K_class_(1932)

Well don't forget at one point you were a colony or overseas territory so I would almost put money on it that the initial railways were imported by us and built there like they were in most commonwealth (i.e. ex empire) nations

most likely. im not the person to know about that side of the rails, and indeed never actually thought about it before. my friend blair would know, though. that guy is almost a walking history book.

found some more snippets in other issues.

meg merrilies was in service in my city between 1932 and 1965. she was used as a shunter in the workshops. upon retirement in 1965, she was relocated to MOTAT in auckland, where she still resides.

   

   

speaking of railways, the local branch had a ball, once upon a time.

   

tot town railway is based at kowhai [ko-why or ko-fie, depending on regional dialect] park. the engines have changed a bit over the years, with the current one being based on updated diesel kiwirail designs.

   

   

[Super]

Oh my, look at those hair do's at the Railways Ball. The Meg Merrilies is pretty cool. Must not have went too far since it only has the two small coal boxes on either side of the cab. That looks like an sold add on cow catcher. Had to look her up since you posted this and the photo below looks as if it was a later, somewhat refurbished, rendition possibly after she was admitted into the museum.

Also had to look up the Tot Town Railway for its latest addition, its still pretty cool and looks to be at the same location all of these years including the white picket fence and it looks like the older steam train like the one pictured is still running to.

Thanks for sharing Sunhuntin

funny you should pick that video! filmed by a friend of mine, and featuring several other friends in it, lol.
the little boy running around with the two girls is the nephew of my friend blair. i think the girls are relatives somewhere along the line, too.

do you know what the tall bird statues are? the moat around the castle and ship used to have water in, but has been empty for my lifetime, except for what gathers after rain.

the red one with "tot town" on the side is the one from my childhood, and looks to be the one in the pictures, just with a new paint job. my best friend as a child, their uncle was a driver, and on their birthday i got to drive it.

yes, the track is still in the same place, and likely still the exact same track, too. one of the men involved with that is also a member of steamrail, and so both steamrail and my club have had christmas bbq and other events at the tot town, with members being allowed to drive if they wanted to.

that photo of meg is a beauty. i dont think its anywhere in wanganui, but then it would have been taken so long ago, and everything has changed so much. i am hoping to travel to auckland, where the museum is, in november, so might see if we have time to visit, but i very much doubt it, as the museum is a place you want to spend time at, and i will be at glenbrook vintage railway all weekend for their day out with thomas event, as blair is taking his layout up.