Skip to main content

Story: Investment

Railway cutting

Image
Railway cutting

This massive cutting was at Manawapou on the Foxton–New Plymouth railway. Because of New Zealand’s hilly topography, and the fact that railways needed gentle turns and gradients, there was huge investment by the state in tunnels and cuttings.

Using this item

Hocken Collections, University of Otago

Reference: S09-228e

Permission of the Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Further information may be obtained from the Library through its website.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Brent Layton, Investment – Māori and colonial investment, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/24112/railway-cutting (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Brent Layton, published 3 March 2010.