From the 1920s the Railways Studio and Publicity Branch produced hundreds of eye-catching posters. In the 1940s and 1950s there was a high demand for railway services around public holidays, especially Christmas and Easter. In an age before most New Zealand families owned a car, the rail journey along the North Island Main Trunk Line was a popular way to get between Wellington and Auckland.
This poster from 1948 depicts a streamlined Ka locomotive - similar to the unstreamlined Ka 949, which was involved in the tragedy at Tangiwai.
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: Eph-E-RAIL-1940s-02
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.
