Edited by Gordon Troup,

Hardback, Reed 1973, First Edition, 342pages, good condition, no mark or wirting
With many black and white photos.

For a fledgling country sparsely populated, divided into provinces who made the policy decisions initially about public transport , particularly about railways, the gauge, rolling stock and where the lines ran it was amazing that New Zealand ultimately under a central government that a national railway system emerged. Under the skillful editorship of Gordon Troup he along wit a number of contributors trace the highlights of New Zealand railway History from 1863 through into the 1970s. The engineering feats, the engine types, and the working toward a single main line throughout each of the North and South Islands. Some of the particularly interesting chapters include: Engine Running 1877 - 1885, Smoke Signals at Rakaia, Steam on Lake Wakatipu, Rails Over the Rimutaka, Baldwins and Box Cars, The Rural Branch Line, The Biography of Ab 608, Main Trunk: Where Men Meet Mountains, The New Zealand "K" Means One Thing, and many more.