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Story: Railways

Surveying for the main trunk line

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Surveying for the main trunk line

Surveyor Peter Keller (left) and his chainman Charlie Williams (centre) survey the main trunk line near Raurimu in 1906. They worked in isolation. The region was so impenetrable that when Keller was transferred from Taihape to Raurimu – a distance of less than 100 kilometres – he caught a train from Marton to New Plymouth, a steamer to Onehunga, and another train down to Taumarunui.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/4-MNZ-0699; F

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

Neill Atkinson, Railways – Main trunk lines, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/21382/surveying-for-the-main-trunk-line (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Neill Atkinson, published 6 April 2010.