Main Trunk Century
DOCUMENTARY
From the international-award winning Memory Line Series team this new documentary is a celebration of the centenary of New Zealand’s North Island Main Trunk Railway, one of the last great engineering triumphs from the frontier days of the Age of Steam.
Thousands of New Zealanders turned out to witness the re-enactment of the famous Parliamentary Special, the first passenger train from Wellington through to Auckland to greet the visiting American Great White Fleet in 1908.
Learn about the famous 1000 pound wager to get the line completed in time, and how 2 tiny L locomotives built way back in 1877 were restored to head the Centennial Special as a tribute to Frederick Furkert, who had temporary tracks laid over swampland to get the first train through. Two stories unfold in parallel with participantsí comments on the 2008 journey, and flashbacks to authentic accounts from passengers on the original 20.5 hour pioneer journey.