2008 North Island Main Trunk Line Centenary
| | Cat. |
Mint Unhinged |
Fine Used |
50c |
Last Spike ceremony / Manganui-o-te-Ao Viaduct / 6 November 1908 |
657a |
$0.90 |
|
$0.90 |
|
$1 |
50th Anniversary / KA 947 Locomotive / Taumarunui Station / November 1958 |
657b |
$1.80 |
|
$1.80 |
|
$1.50 |
Ka Class Locomotive goods train / Makatote Viaduct / 1963 |
657c |
$2.70 |
|
$2.70 |
|
$2 |
Ka Class Locomotive goods train / Raurimu Spiral / 1964 |
657d |
$3.60 |
|
$3.60 |
|
$2.50 |
EF Class Electric Locomotive pulling the Overlander / Hapuawhenua Bridge / 2003 |
657e |
$4.50 |
|
$4.50 |
|
| |
|
Set of 5 individual stamps |
657f |
$12.85 |
|
$12.85 |
|
| |
$7.50 |
Limited Edition Miniature Sheet with one 50 cent, one $1, one $1.50, one $2 and one $2.50 stamp (2,000 numbered copies) |
657g |
$198.00 |
|
|
|
| ... Five Stamps : 50c (657a), $1 (657b), $1.50 (657c), $2 (657d), $2.50 (657e) |
| |
|
First Day Cover - 3 September 2008 |
657h |
|
|
$14.40 |
|
| ... 50c (657a), $1 (657b), $1.50 (657c), $2 (657d), $2.50 (657e) |
This issue commemorates the 100th anniversary of the completion of the
North Island Main Trunk line which connects Auckland and Wellington. The
681 kilometer line was completed in 1908 after 23 years of construction
work.
On the 7th of August 1908 the first passenger train, the
11-car Parliamentary Special carried Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward and
other parliamentarians north from Wellington to see the American Great
White Fleet at Auckland. However, the track was barely complete with some
cuttings having vertical batters and some unballasted sections of track.
Prime Minister Ward drove the last spike on the 6th of November 1908. The
'Last Spike' monument is at Manganui-o-te-Ao near Pokaka.
A
two-day service commenced on the 9th of November 1908, with an overnight
stop at Ohakune. On the 14th of February 1909, the first express left
Auckland for Wellington for an overnight trip scheduled to take 19 hours 15
minutes - with a sleeping car, day cars with reclining seats and postal /
parcel vans. The dining car left on the north-bound express from Wellington
to Ohakune and then transferred to the south-bound express to avoid the
heavy gradients of the central section.
Some of the greatest
engineering achievements include the famous Raurimu Spiral (described as an
'engineering miracle') which allows trains to manage the steep
grade from the Whanganui River valley onto the Volcanic Plateau. Nine major
viaducts were constructed - five of which are over 70 meters high. The rail
link was an economic lifeline for the North Island and opened up the centre
of the North Island for European settlement and investment. It heralded the
golden age of rail transport within New Zealand and established Auckland
and Wellington as the country's leading cities.
The 50 cent
stamp features a photograph of the 'Last Spike' ceremony on the 6th
of November 1908. Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward hammered the 'last
spike' into a railway sleeper just north of the Manganui-o-te-Ao
Viaduct.
The $1 stamp features the 50th anniversary display at
Taumarunui Railway Station in November 1958. The locomotive KA 947 was
constructed in August 1939 and like all other locomotives in the Ka class
became a mainstay of the North Island Trunk line although they were also
used on other routes in the North Island. Interestingly, KA 949
(constructed in October 1939) was wrecked in the Tangiwai disaster on the
24th of December 1953 - New Zealand's worst rail disaster. With the
commencement of main line dieselisation in 1954, the Ka class was slowly
displaced from service on the Main Trunk Line.
The $1.50 stamp shows
a Ka powered goods train crossing the 79 meter high Makatote
Viaduct.
The $2 stamp shows another Ka class locomotive pulling a
goods train through the Raurimu Spiral - a 6.8 kilometer single-track
railway spiral which overcomes a 132 meter height difference over an
effective travelled distance of 2 kilometers. Designed in 1898 by R. W.
Holmes, the line loops back upon itself and spirals around with the aid of
tunnels and bridges, rising at a gradient of 1 in 52. At one point, trains
cross over the longer of the two tunnels through which they have just
passed.
The $2.50 stamps show the 'Overlander' crossing the
414 meter Hapuawhenua bridge in 2003. This bridge was built in 1987 when
the track was electrified and is part of a 10 kilometer deviation from the
original line. The original 284 meter Hapuawhenua Viaduct is now part of
the adjoining national park and is not pictured. The Overlander is a
long-distance rail passenger train between Auckland and Wellington along
the North Island Main Trunk and was called one of the best-value scenic
rail trips in the world by the British Guardian. The Overlander is being
pulled by an EF class 25 kV AC electric locomotive. The EF class are the
only mainline electric locomotives in service on the New Zealand national
rail network. The 3,000 kilowatt (4,000 hp) locomotives are the most
powerful locomotives to operate in New Zealand, and their design has
influenced the design of other electric locomotives overseas - including
the Le Shuttle Eurotunnel Class 9 electric locomotives that operate in the
Channel Tunnel between the UK and France.
Bibliography
The Postage Stamps of New Zealand Volume X |
Edited by B.G. Vincent FRPSNZ | Published 2013 by The Royal Philatelic Society of New Zealand Incorporated (ISBN 978-0-9876534-3-7) | Pages 176 - 177 |
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This page was last updated on 02 Jul 2022
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