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Story: Magazines and periodicals

New Zealand Railways Magazine

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<em>New Zealand Railways Magazine</em>

The popular New Zealand Railways Magazine was the idea of Prime Minister Gordon Coates, who saw it as a way to disseminate 'useful knowledge' to railway workers and the wider public. The magazine encouraged New Zealand poetry and prose and attracted writers like James Cowan, Robin Hyde and Denis Glover. This is the cover of the first issue in 1926. The viaduct highlights the engineering prowess needed to build the railway system. 

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: Railways Magazine, May 1926 (S-L-1273-COVER)

Courtesy of KiwiRail

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Ben Schrader, Magazines and periodicals – Popular magazines, 1920 to 1939, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/44381/new-zealand-railways-magazine (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ben Schrader, published 6 March 2014, updated 1 April 2020.