KING’ S ARCHIVES
Train-spotters
G N T Greenbank’ s love of trains.
Ferreoequinology: Study of iron horses
Surely Headmaster G N T Greenbank( 1946 – 1973) would have been impressed by the mystique of such terminology describing his inveterate love of trains. Many a tale of his years include adventures that involve both the national main trunk line and suburban trains that even today provide an important source of transport for King’ s students going to and from school each day.
An Eden Park Rugby or Cricket match may have been the catalyst to announce in the staffroom as preparations for a day’ s lessons were underway, that the school would be stopping at midday and would travel( by train, of course) to the event. To accommodate this upheaval there may have been added the confusion that even though it was Thursday the day’ s timetable would be that of Monday backwards! So much for lesson preparation.
How New Zealand Rail coped with a sudden influx of an unexpected 400 passengers may require some further investigation but it is a well-known fact that the trip to town was just another challenge for the Headmaster – he had friends in high places as other episodes demonstrate.
The only mode of transport for a planned journey to Wellington for the Trevalyan Society to visit Parliament could be by train. The‘ Limited’ Express would leave Auckland in the evening, travelling through the night to arrive at Wellington about 12 hours later, after stopping at just a few( Limited?) of the stations on its journey. Older readers would well remember stops at Frankton Junction; Railway pies and‘ cuppas’ at Te Kuiti; an early morning stop at Taihape and then on to‘ Palmy’( Palmerston North) well before dawn to uplift the last of the passengers going south. The journey included traversing the world-famous Raurimu Spiral – an engineering feat that, given the date of its construction was considered an‘ engineering masterpiece’. It was in 1898( King’ s was just 2 years old!) that the design was proposed to overcome the 132m altitude rise over just 6.8km or 2km as the crow flies.
Now‘ G’ could not let this opportunity pass without some personal involvement. Little is known as to where the negotiations were made but reliable sources confirm that the Headmaster was in the engine cab for the ascent( quite likely
RAURIMU SPIRAL
on both North and South journeys). This is just one memorable chapter – the‘ limited’ was true to its name until‘ G’ had a hand in its itinerary. With no stops between Pukekohe and Auckland the Headmaster arranged for‘ his men’ to alight the train outside the College – not at either the Middlemore or Mangere Stations but immediately at the gates and one can envisage fellow passengers giving the King’ s lads a cheerful goodbye wave as they headed back to school.
Simon DENNISON-WOOD( Averill 1963-66) shared the Headmaster’ s interest in locomotives and expressed his love of all things mechanical by the numerous pencil drawings he produced right up to his untimely death in 1991, Mr Greenbank was alerted to the decommissioning( wrecking?) of one of his well-known locomotives at the Otahuhu Railway Workshops. Here was another event that he could not let pass and in a typical, commanding voice gave instructions:‘ Simon, they are wrecking 501 – go down to the Workshops and ask for its plate!’ Each steam engine had a large brass number plate on the front of the boiler and the Headmaster wanted a souvenir of one of‘ his trains’.
One can well imagine the interest( and involvement?) in recent progress outside the College as new tracks are laid; overhead gantries assembled and eventual lines placed in preparation for the electrification of the suburban railways in August 2013. Despite his great love of steam surely the Headmaster would be intrigued by yet another development even though it has meant the demise of the Mangere Station and‘ our men’ having to walk down to Middlemore.
John Bean Archivist
28 AUTUMN 2013 • KING’ S COURIER