MOTU’S MEMENTO OF A MIGHTY RAIL VISION

A few kilometres south of the settlement of Motu, in the heart of the Eastland interior, an abandoned bridge stands beside the ever-changing Motu River

Jim Robinson

EASTLAND TAIRAWHITI 0000° S, 0000° E The Moutohora bridge is a truss design, with the supporting framework forming two giant crosses on each side. It’s the most striking remnant of a distant vision to link Gisborne and Auckland by railway line. This November, it’s 100 years since a Poverty Bay Herald journalist wrote about the opening of a new section of railway from Matawai to Moutohora (for many years, ‘Motuhora’). “The section is … five miles in length, and ending at Motuhora Station marks the present terminus of railway construction.” What soon became known as ‘the Motuhora line’ stretched all the way back to Gisborne, some 78km. Moutohora bridge was almost at the railhead. It was reported in the 1917 article as “the usual substantial type, and in this case…

You're reading a preview of

NZ Today (Digital) - 1 Issue, No 79 Apr-May 18

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.