Rarotonga Steam Railway

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The Rarotonga Steam Railway was a short tourist railway on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. [1]

History

Avarua. Tracks on the wharf around 1914. Photo by George Crummer. Union Steam Ship Co. railway tracks on Rarotonga.jpg
Avarua. Tracks on the wharf around 1914. Photo by George Crummer.

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  [ de ]-1741. [3] It was built in 1951 by the Pierwsza Fabryka Lokomotyw w Polsce Fablok in Chrzanów, Poland with the serial number 2126. [4]

Locomotive Px48-1919 in Poland, Stare Bojanowo. Px48-1919 - Stare Bojanowo oblot 1 (538395570).jpg
Locomotive Px48-1919 in Poland, Stare Bojanowo.

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.

Related Research Articles

This article lists transport in the Cook Islands.

Rarotonga Island of 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.

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Avarua Capital of the Cook Islands

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NZR T class

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Kingdom of Rarotonga

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Cook Islands Federation

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Avatiu

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Matavera District of the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands

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

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

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Arorangi

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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.

Para O Tane Palace

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.

References

  1. "Steam in Asia (East) 2011". Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  2. Steam in the Cook Islands The International Steam Pages
  3. "Steam in the Cook Islands" . Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  4. Preserved Foreign Steam Locomotives in New Zealand.
  5. "No Steam in the Cook Islands..." www.internationalsteam.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2019.

Coordinates: 21°12′25″S159°46′15″W / 21.20694°S 159.77083°W / -21.20694; -159.77083