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Rail relief - New Plymouth's first railway
New Plymouth's first train chugged along on its new line on 2 September, 1875.
People made speeches and cheered but horses and oxen were scared out of their wits.
The rail route ran right through New Plymouth.
The trains crossed the streets where people crossed and they hit a few settlers along the way. The new railway was good for the town but the settlers liked it better when the route was changed.
Rewind
Were the events below really happening in New Zealand in the 1870s? You decide by answering true or false and then check your choices at the end of this week's TreasureLink.
- The Government borrows £20 million to build 1,800 km of railway, 4,000 km of telegraph poles as well as roads and public buildings.
- New immigrants continue to flow into New Zealand.
- There are far more women in New Zealand than men.
- Provinces like Taranaki, Canterbury and Auckland all have their own governments.
- Secondary education is free.
Word Watch
All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning, check your choices when you read the story and then find the answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.
- proposed route (a) the recommended route or (b) the final route
- imported (a) brought into New Zealand (b) sent out of New Zealand
- ceremonial train trip (a) a formal trip as part of a celebration or (b) the very first train trip
- the train came to a wheezy stop (a) it stopped with a lot of smoke or (b) it stopped with the sound of someone breathing with difficulty
- spectacle (a) something disgraceful or (b) something seen or viewed that is quite remarkable
- culprits (a) crooks and vagabonds or (b) those guilty of a crime
- tempers were fraying (a) people were getting very angry or (b) people were beginning to calm down
- monstrosity of a crossing (a) a ridiculously poor and dangerous crossing or (b) a huge crossing
- the railway widened horizons (a) the railway opened up the possibility of travel beyond the local area or (b) the railway covered a very wide area
- flourished (a) grew a lot bigger (b) did well, prospered
Taranaki on the Main Trunk Line?
Taranaki's first railway line almost became part of the Main Trunk Line - that's the main line between Auckland and Wellington. This weeks Ask an expert, tells you all about the Main Trunk Line.
What if towns in Taranaki had become towns on the Main Trunk Line? Places like Taumarunui and Te Kuiti boomed because of the railways so it would have been good for Taranaki.
Use this map to work out a route from Hawera in South Taranaki to Awakino in North Taranaki.
Don't wind through every Taranaki town because you must take quite a short route but how many towns would you pass through?
Railways at a price
Railways were expensive. The Government gave £50,000 ($100,000) to build New Plymouth's first railway and it was only 17½ kilometres long.
Imagine the cost of building the Main Trunk Line from Auckland to Wellington. A lot of the New Plymouth land was already clear but forests, hills and valleys were in the way of the main trunk line. 2000 men were working on it by 1907.
61,107 hectares of indigenous forest lay beside the Main Trunk Line. Trees like rimu and totara grew near the route. The Crown owned 29,420 hectares of this forest- that meant the Government could decide what to do with it.
What if you were Minister of Finance in the Government of the 1900s? How could the Government make some money to help pay for the railway. Work out a cunning plan.
Before train travel
Early New Plymouth needed a railway. Read the first part of this week's story to find out why.
Prime Minister William Fox preferred trains to coaches. He rode into town on a Cobb & Co coach and pretty soon New Plymouth had the money to begin their railway.
See photographs of the coaches and find out more about the Cobb & Co service here. See if you can find out why the coaches were so uncomfortable and at times, so dangerous.
Start a business
Cobb & Co was an Australian company and it was very successful. Private coach companies in New Zealand called themselves Cobb & Co so people would think they were as good as the Australian company.
Team up with a classmate. It's the 1860s and Mr Cobb has asked you to go into partnership so you can run the coaches in New Zealand. You have to decide if the coach business will really take off.
List some reasons why people will probably use your coaches rather than attempt journeys by themselves. Flick back to this Cobb & Co site if you need extra ideas.
An inland route?
Read A railway at last and find out these things. Why was the first railway built between New Plymouth and Waitara?
Why was an inland route chosen?
The inland route would wind its way through the town. What if you had been the railway planner?
Use this map to work out the route you would have taken.
Show where you would link this first railway to the one that later came north from Wanganui.
This map shows you where the link is now but your link might be in a different place.
Compare your ideas with a classmate's.
Just follow the route?
Pick, axe and shovel shows readers how early construction was a lot different to methods used today. It also shows that one group didn't really consider the rights of others when railways or roads went through.
Read this part of the story and decide on another course of action for William Perrot of Inglewood.
We don't know the full story remember. He may have lost the contract if he didn't follow the route exactly as it was planned on paper.
This planning guide will help you with this activity.
Hitting the headlines
The railway was big news when it opened in 1875. Write the intro for a newspaper story that goes with one of the headlines below.
The intro is the first part of the news story and it usually tells readers what happened and when as well as the where and who was involved.
Intros are often only one or two sentences long and good ones will make the reader want to read the rest of the story.
Champagne christening for New Plymouth's first train
Waitara to New Plymouth in less then 45 minutes!
Triple trouble!
Read Railway and find out about the three problems the railways brought to town. One was mechanical, another animal related and the third was spiritual.
Would problems like the ones below ever happen today or were these problems just a sign of the times? Think, pair and share your ideas with a classmate.
- A train can't get up a hill.
- Horse and oxen scared by trains.
- Church leaders say that some social activities should not be allowed to happen on a Sunday.
Train on the road!
Read Devon Street crossing a hazard and find out why the new trains became a bit dangerous.
Check out the possible solutions below to the Devon Street crossing. Rank them in a best solution order with 1 being the best. Compare your choices with a classmate.
(a) Install bells and barrier arms that
block off the street when a train is
coming.
(b) Get a porter to walk in front of the
train with a red flag and loud whistle.
(c) Install louder bells and whistles on the
train.
(d) Make the train stop at all road
crossings.
(e) Build pedestrian bridges over the
railway crossings.
(f) Move the tracks.
The railways improve
Finish the story now and find out how the railways improved and why the trips from New Plymouth became faster.
Use this map to help you draw a simple map of the North Island. Mark in these trips from the olden days on your map.
- 1879. The daily service to Wanganui. (Don't forget the horse drawn part of this trip.)
- The trip of the daring traveler who left New Plymouth and made it to Wellington in just 26 hours.
- 1901 The Onehunga to New Plymouth steamer service and the Auckland to New Plymouth railway trip. The railway line to Auckland doesn't go up the coast remember. It joins to the main trunk line near Taumarunui.
Fast forward
That's the Inglewood railway station in the photo above. Passenger trains used to stop here and there was a time when it was a bustling busy little station- just like the others in Taranaki towns along the railway line.
Every so often a special passenger train still rolls through but it's very rare. People still love trains and they are a great way to travel so have a go at organising a special trip of your own.
The Auckland rugby team is playing Taranaki at Yarrow Stadium New Plymouth on 17 September at 2.30 pm. Organise the train trip of a lifetime for Auckland rugby fans.
Form a train trip promotion team with a classmate or two. This trip will leave Auckland on the Wednesday before the big match. It will stop in Taumarunui, Whangamomona, and Stratford.
Passengers will be able to take part in your great Taranaki activity during the day in each of these places and stay for one night in each place.
The train will return to Auckland from New Plymouth on Sunday morning. It will be an express trip with no stops. (There are toilets on the train and a dining car.)
Use this planning guide link to train trip itinerary and the suggested websites to work out your activities.
Rewind answers.
1. True. This happened in 1870 and it was a very popular idea with the settlers.
2. True. 100,000 arrived between 1871 and 1880. About half were from England about a quarter from Ireland and slightly less than that were from Scotland. About 10% were from Europe.
3. False. In 1871 New Zealand had 89,000 men over 20 years of age but only 46,000 women.
4. True but they were abolished in 1876. They wouldn't cooperate with central government (the main New Zealand Government) or each other.
5. False. This didn't happen until the 1930s
Word watch answers
1a, 2a, 3a, 4b, 5b, 6b, 7a, 8a, 9a, 10b
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