Railway enthusiast Bruce Taylor next Kāpiti Historical Society guest speaker

Bruce Taylor will speak about railways.

Local railway enthusiast Waikanae’s Bruce Taylor is Kāpiti Historical Society’s next guest speaker.

Four years ago he spoke to members about the western branches of the Wellington rail network and this time will broaden the focus.

Taylor is a retired secondary school teacher of history. He is a railway enthusiast and writer and is involved in a project to digitise over 300,000 images of New Zealand railways held in the archives of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society.

“The title of my talk will be ‘Wellington’s Railways — an illustrated history’.

“I will be picking up from where I left off last time when I spoke to the Kāpiti Historical Society in 2020 covering the Kāpiti and Johnsonville lines.

“This time I will be focusing on the history of the Wellington railway station, the Hutt workshops, the evolution of the Hutt Valley line and the Remutaka incline and tunnel. And, a little extra on the end of cardboard and paper tickets.

“I will build my talk around many historical and contemporary photos from the archives and some from my own collection. These photos provide fascinating glimpses of our past.”

The Details

What: Bruce Taylor’s railway talk

When: Tuesday, October 8 from 7.30pm

Where: Kāpiti Uniting Church, Raumati Beach

Tickets: Koha appreciated.

The remaining speakers for 2024 will be:

Wednesday, October 30 - Local MP Tim Costley on his life in the New Zealand Air Force.

Tuesday, November 12 - Historian Jock Phillips on the reaction of Māori to royal tours.

Tuesday, December 10 - Author of Tales from the Lucky Generation, Bob Calkin, on his life in business, the law and jail. (to be confirmed).

For more information on the Kāpiti Historical Society, contact Roger Childs at pamandroger.childs@gmail.com or Gordon Dickson at glengords@gmail.com