Construction workers pose at the entrance of a tunnel being built on the Midland railway line in the early 1890s. The New Zealand Midland Railway Company was formed in London in 1886 to link Canterbury with the West Coast and Nelson. In 1894 only 120 kilometres of railway had been completed, at a cost of £1.3 million. The government took over, sparking a bitter legal battle and further delay. Construction of the Midland line ended in 1923 with the opening of the Ōtira tunnel. The line was never extended to Nelson.
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Alexander Turnbull Library, Albert Percy Godber Collection (PA-Group-00048)
Reference:
APG-1530-1/2; 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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