The Rarotonga Steam Railway was a short tourist railway on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. [1]
Around 1914 the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand had railway tracks in Avarua's wharf. There was no railway line in operation on the Cook Islands until the beginning of the 1990s. In 1991 or 1992 resident of Rarotonga, Tim Arnold, a descendant of Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, purchased a steam locomotive in Poland and brought it to Avarua. [2] It was working steam locomotive; a 750mm gauge Polish 0-8-0. In Poland, it was Px48 -1741. [3] It was built in 1951 by the Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce Fablok in Chrzanów, Poland with the serial number 2126. [4]
The railway is in need of repair, and as such is no longer in working condition. [5]
The locomotive and other equipment are stored on the island awaiting possible further use. There is a proposal to transfer the unused locomotive to the new narrow-gauge railway near Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand.
The Px48-1741 steam locomotive was used in Poland on the local railways in Krośniewice, Kaliska and Żuławska.
This article lists transport in the Cook Islands.
Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of 67.39 km2 (26.02 sq mi), and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga. Rarotonga is a very popular tourist destination with many resorts, hotels and motels. The chief town, Avarua, on the north coast, is the capital of the Cook Islands.
Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of 4,375.5 km (2,718.8 mi) of track linking most major cities in the North and South Islands, connected by inter-island rail and road ferries. Rail transport in New Zealand has a particular focus on bulk freight exports and imports, with 19 million net tonnes moved by rail annually, with 99.5% of New Zealand's exports and imports being transported through the country's seaports.
Avarua is a town and district in the north of the island of Rarotonga, and is the national capital of the Cook Islands.
The NZR T class was a class of steam locomotive used in New Zealand; of the "Consolidation" type, popular in North America, especially with the narrow gauge Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad.
The Kingdom of Rarotonga, named after the island of Rarotonga, was an independent kingdom established in the present-day Cook Islands in 1858. In 1888 it became a protectorate of the United Kingdom by its own request. In 1893 the name was changed to the Cook Islands Federation.
The Cook Islands Federation was created in 1891, after the Kingdom of Rarotonga was given the island of Aitutaki. It lasted until 1901, when it was given to New Zealand.
Avatiu is a settlement on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located on the north coast to the west of the capital Avarua and is the location of Rarotonga's main port.
Matavera is the smallest of the five districts that make up the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located in the northeast of the island, to the east of the district of Avarua, and north of the district of Ngatangiia.
Ngatangiia is one of the five districts that make up the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located in the east of the island, to the south of the districts of Matavera and Avarua, and northeast of the district of Titikaveka.
Titikaveka is one of the five districts that make up the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located in the south of the island, to the south of the districts of Ngatangiia and Avarua, and east of the district of Arorangi.
Arorangi is one of the five districts that make up the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located in the west of the island, to the northwest of the district of Titikaveka, and southwest of the district of Avarua.
Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew is a 750 mm -gauge heritage railway based at Sochaczew in Poland, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Warsaw. The museum's headquarters are that of the former Sochaczew County Narrow Gauge Railway. It has a fleet of historic 750mm-gauge steam, diesel and electric locomotives, goods wagons, passenger cars and draisines. It has also a small number of standard gauge and other exhibits.
Px38-805, named Leon, is a preserved Polish 600 mm narrow gauge steam locomotive built by Fablok in Chrzanów, Poland. It was the only locomotive of PKP class Px38, and one of three built locomotives of Fablok W5A type.
Px27 is a class of Polish State Railways (PKP) 600 mm narrow-gauge steam locomotive built by Fablok in Chrzanów, Poland, in 1929. Only two locomotives of this class were made, and one, Px27-775, is currently preserved.
St. Joseph's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Bishop of Rarotonga and is located in Avarua in the north of the island of Rarotonga the largest and most populated island of the Cook Islands a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand
Raemaru is a mountain on the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. The peak of Raemaru is 357 meters above sea level, and is located in the central part of the country, 5 km southwest of the capital Avarua. Raemaru is part of the Pouraa Mountains.
The Para O Tane Palace is a historic building in Avarua, Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Built in the 1830s by Makea Pori Ariki, it was later the residence of Makea Takau Ariki and the place where she signed a treaty making the Cook Islands a British protectorate in 1888.
The Cook Islands National Museum is a museum in Avarua on Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands. Its collection includes contemporary and historic artefacts, as well as replicas of objects in foreign institutions.
Coordinates: 21°12′25″S159°46′15″W / 21.20694°S 159.77083°W