Cabinet 18: Rail in New Zealand
Class K88 ‘Washington’, in Photograph Album of Trains in New Zealand, (n. d).
Rail transport in New Zealand consists of a network of 4,128 kilometres of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge lines. Today there are only four long distance routes: the Overlander between Auckland and Wellington (a reduced schedule), the Capital Connection, between Wellington and Palmerston North, the TranzCoastal between Picton and Christchurch, and the TranzAlpine, between Christchurch and Greymouth. Even before the heyday of rail in New Zealand, enterprising businessmen sought rolling stock to improve services. This Class K88 ‘Washington’ was imported into New Zealand from America about 1878. It still exists, and is the same locomotive that was trucked down from Ashburton for the Dunedin Railway Station Centennial Celebrations in 2006.