Fifty-eight Years Ago
New Zealand Railways In 1881.

By J. S. D.

(Rly. Publicity photo.)
Locomotive (Bb class) recently overhauled by apprentices at the Hutt Railway Workshops.

The writer of these reminiscences, then a lad of sixteen years, left London, in June, 1881, to try his fortune in New Zealand. Sailing in a barque named the “Wave Queen,” of 853 tons, and after a comparatively unexciting passage, he arrived at Wellington at the end of September, having taken 105 days on the voyage.

“Wellington was very different then from the busy city it has become in 1939. The population was about 18,000, and I remember well that the Post Office was on the harbour front, and wherries were tied to rings in the stone wall. A police boat, too, hung on davits on a level with the quay.

“During my few days in the Capital, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. (afterwards the Hon.) John Ballance, whose nephew was a fellow emigrant on the ‘Wave Queen.’ I remember, too, my first visit to Lambton Station and seeing, for the first time in my life, narrow gauge railway tracks. The impression I received was a total reversion of all my ideas of railways as I knew them in the Old Country. Lambton Station, in those days, was merely a wooden shed, standing on a low platform, which might have been fifty yards long. A few trucks stood isolated on the three or four tracks, but there was no sign of a train. A Sabbath stillness brooded over the scene.

“Reading the timetable which hung on the wall of the ‘station’ (there was no verandah shelter provided) I found that two trains ran to Masterton, and two further trains to Lower Hutt. That was all. Later, I visited the station to see one of these trains, which consisted of a line of about a dozen trucks, two small vehicles (one on four wheels, the other on six) and was headed by an engine with a saddle tank, painted green. This engine had a large funnel and six small coupled wheels, about three feet in diameter. I little thought at that time that within six months I should be working on the railways, and become familiar with this type of engine.

“A small horse-drawn tram plied from the railway station to the tram terminus at Courtenay Place where Wellington ended. The wooden Government Building was a giant in those days and Wellington was very proud of it, claiming it to be the largest wooden building in the world.

“Work having been offered me at Foxton I found that, in order to reach that town I had to travel first to Wanganui in a small steamer called the “Stormbird,” and thence by train

(Rly. Publicity photo.)
The apprentices responsible for a fine job of work on the locomotive illustrated above.

to Foxton. So one evening I embarked in the little coaster and arrived in Wanganui the following morning. After breakfast (cost 1/-) at the hotel, I made my way to the railway station—smaller than Lambton Station in Wellington, and without the usual platform. I ascertained that the train for Foxton left Wanganui at 2 p.m. and arrived at its destination at 8 p.m. At 2 p.m., therefore, I took my seat in a little wooden car, the seats being of plain board. A line of trucks was ahead, and the engine was, to me, another railway curiosity. It was a ‘Double Fairlie’ and had two wide funnels, which I afterwards discovered were spark arresters. I don't remember much about that tedious journey, except that the maximum speed attained (between the many stops) was perhaps 18 m.p.h.

“For some six months I had a rather lean time in Foxton, and in March, 1882, I found myself in the then little bush settlement called Palmertston North. How different to-day is that large and progressive city to the bush clearing I saw in 1882! I heard in Palmerston North that railway works were in progress (the extension of the Napier section from Makotuku to Ohau) and that men were obtaining page 47

(Photo. James Reid, Hamilton)
The staff at the Frankton Junction railway station in 1896. Back row (left to right): J. Bennett, I.P.W.; J. Turner, guard; H. M. Shera, clerk; R. B. Peat, stationmaster; R. Hampton, guard; A. Whisker, cleaner; M. Higgins, fireman; J. Kneally, fireman; G. Thompson, driver; D. Noonan, porter. Front row: A. Anger, porter; W. Smythe, fireman; J. Haslett, driver; W. Crowley, train examiner; S. Wakefield, driver.

employment on that job. For three days, therefore, I tramped to the railhead, carrying my swag, or ‘bluey’ as it is called in Australia. I eventually reached the camp, and the kindly navvies gave me a good welcome, a good dinner, and made me feel at home generally. After an interview with the boss the following morning I was informed that for me, there was no work offering. ‘I don't want boys,’ he said. ‘I want hefty men.’ He advised me to go on to Napier where I should probably get work of some sort. With only a few shillings in my pocket, I set out on the seventy odd miles walk to Napier, sleeping in sheds, or the open bush. I may here remark that from the Manawatu Gorge to Napier, I tramped almost entirely through virgin bush—mile after mile of

Model of a “K” locomotive and of some types of freight rolling stock used on the New Zealand Railways.

glorious trees—most of which have now disappeared with the advance of settlement.

“Upon arrival in Napier I discovered that the foreman in charge of the permanent way construction work (with whom I was seeking an interview) was out on a job. His wife, however—a charming little woman—interviewed me, invited me inside, provided me with a good dinner and was much interested to learn of my adventures. Soon, her husband, a strong, dark-bearded man of about 50 years of age, returned. His name was James Baxter—a gentleman in every way. Many old residents of Hawke's Bay will no doubt remember ‘Jimmy’ Baxter, Inspector, Permanent Way, on the Napier section of railways in 1882.

“‘Now, Jimmy,’ said Mrs. Baxter, ‘You must give this boy a job.’ Mr. Baxter did so. Naturally I was eager to do whatever came my way, at 6/-per day.

“For a whole year, I worked with the ‘flying’ gang, acting as general fetch and carry hand, also taking my share of the hard work, loading trucks with ballast, etc. I retained the knowledge I acquired and after one year on the construction work felt competent to lay a track on the lines needed at that time.

“When I started work the Napier section was only 68 miles in length. The rolling stock consisted of three engines (two of them saddle tanks, and the third, a small two-coupled engine with a pony truck under the front plate), seven passenger vehicles of which five were six-wheeled, the other two four-wheeled. I do not remember how many trucks we had, certainly not more than fifty, and possibly about a dozen service hoppers. We ran two trains daily to the railhead, the afternoon one stopping the night at Makotuku, and returning in the morning, the trip taking six hours.

“Since those early days of which I write, the railways of New Zealand have made extraordinary progress, and to-day the present General Manager, Mr. G. H. Mackley (whom I have the honour to know personally) is controlling a modern and progressive railway system of which New Zealand should be proud. From the disconnected sections of the 'eighties to the unified system of to-day, is achievement indeed. At any rate it is a source of constant pride to me to have been associated with the pioneering work on the New Zealand Railways.”