The Raurimu spiral on the main trunk railway line is justly famous and has appeared in railways publicity material on many occasions since its construction. A more unusual piece of ephemera is this Raurimu spiral compass. Early travellers on the main trunk line could purchase one for sixpence and follow their journey around the spiral. The map has a peculiar transcription error: the non-existent word 'schoing' appears above Raurimu station. Sleuths from the King Country historical journal Roll back the years discovered that the artist had mis-transcribed '5 chains' (the distance between the station and the first level of the spiral) from handwriting on the source map.
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Abundant Past, Richards Collection
Reference: 11091
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