A 1960s postcard in which Opua is described as the railhead of the Bay of Islands, but it has not seen NZR trains since 1985 and tourist trains from Kawakawa since 2001 when the Land Transport Authority decided the track was in too poor condition, although there is a possibility that these may resume at some stage. See earlier posts.
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| A 1980s scene of preserved 4-8-2 steam engine J1211 running along the main street in Kawakawa with a tourist train to Opua. This was before the bullet nose streamlining was (re)added in 1988. |
I conceived and promoted the idea of using the rail-line from Kawakawa to Opua, which resulted in the establishment of the Bay of Islands Scenic Railway.
ReplyDeleteAfter discussing the idea with some friends (I lived in Kawakawa at the time)publicity attracted a person (forget his name)who had the J1211 and offered to bring it up from Wellington region, which he did.
Richard Prebble, the then NZ Minister for Transport officially opened the rail service.
Michael Norris.
guardian1@iprimus.com.au
The person who brought the J1211 engine and carriages to KawaKawa was a man named Jack Prince.
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