LINKING TOO CITIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21560, 3 August 1933, Page 6

LINKING TOO CITIES

RAILWAY ANNIVERSARY AUCKLAND AND WELLINGTON LAYING OF THE LAST RAIL An epoch marking event in the history of New Zealand, the linking by If! railway of Auckland and Wellington occurred 25 years ago to-day. On Aug' . ust 3,-. 1908, the last length of rail was Hi laid in position, the scene being a ]>oint $ about 19 chains on the northern side of the Manganui-o-te-ao viaduct, which is a short distance south of the Makatote 13 viaduct, and half-way between Auckland and Wellington. The first train to pass over the line was a special train which left Welling. \M ton on August 7, bringing to Auckland ff§ a Parliamentary party to take part in the welcome to. the American Fleet. -M The train arrived in Auckland! on August 8, the Fleet'arriving the next day. On August 17 the train left on its " return to Wellington. Further work remained to be done on the permanent way, and the official ceremony of driv- &|| ing the last spike in the line did not 1 take place until November 6. The first - /f regular service commenced on February 14 of the following year. The history of the construction of the Main Trunk railway dates back for " nearly a quarter of a century before the opening, although it was first projwsed as early as 1870, when the late Sir Julius Vogel announced the scheme as part of his.j public works policy. The first part of the work, from Auckland to Te Awamutu, was done during the "seventies," but it was not until the early "eighties" that anything was | actually done toward pushing the line onward through the King Country. In 1882 a sum was voted to carry out preliminary surveys of route, which were completed by 1884. The turning of the first sod in the construction of the railway, by the then Premier, the late Sir Robert Stout, was made the occasion of a ceremony near the Te Awamutu end of the line. This took place at Alexandria (now Pirongia), on April 15, 1885. A deviation in the route was afterwards decided upon, this resulting in the cutting out of the Pirongia connection. In the first few the work was v retarded by various delays, partly owing to the depression of the later "eighties" and early "nineties" and the Government's retrenchment policy. By 1890 the wojck was almost at a standstill. Operations went on slowly from both ends untiMß99, when, having reached Ongarue, at the northern end, the route for the remainder of the distance had to be decided upon. In 1900 the present central route was definitely chosen, as against the proposed Taranaki or Hawke's Bay routes, ,~~ and the work proceeded.