Further to the post of 5 November, the NZR&LS's history of the NIMT has now been published. Essentially it is an album of photos with brief histories of different aspects of the line's history, and its social significance to towns along the way. Given the disappointing book that Graham Stewart produced for OnTrack two years ago on the line's centennial of completion, it is good to be able to say that this one is better. Although quite a few books about the NIMT have been published over the years, Graeme Carter has managed to find mostly fresh photos from the society's archives and elsewhere, and these are b/w and colour in about a 2:1 ratio.
With only 100 pages in landscape A4 format it can't do justice to every aspect of the line's history, for which the late Bill Pierre's book from 1981 remains the best, if you can find it in a library or second hand shop.
There are a few picky criticisms that can be made, starting with the map on the inside front cover, but we'll leave them for NZ Railfan magazine which excells in them. The book is available now in our shop.
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