Requiem for a Railway

There was something poignant about the fact that only a few weeks after Gisborne's hopes for a rail link with Auckland had been dealt a death blow, a party from the New Zealand Railway Enthusiasts Society (Inc.) should arrive to indulge their strange hobby on the Moutohora line.

The enthusiasts, whose hobby is railways and everything associated with them, gathered at vantage points along the line to photograph the towering, placarded engine of their special train as it crossed viaducts, puffed out of tunnels, and rounded sharp curves.

And the train co-operated by setting back at favourable spots and then coming on slowly for the movie cameras.

To anyone who still cherished long-nursed hopes for the line's future, it was something like putting your favourite dog through his tricks for the last time before sending him to the gas-chamber.

The hard facts: The 47½ mile line is losing £30,000 to £40,000 a year, is likely to be shut down soon. As for the cost of linking with Taneatua: Prohibitive.