Welcome to the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society

Now on Facebook Go to Facebook

The Society was formed in 1944 by enthusiasts interested in the then New Zealand Railways. Membership is open to all with an interest in the New Zealand Railway system both old and new. Member groups meet in most cities where talks, films, and other activities can be enjoyed. Read more–>

Latest News

The Linesider Magazine is Staying on the Rails
The Linesider magazine and the NZ Railway & Locomotive Society are joining forces. From Issue No. 21 The Linesider will be published by NZR&LS.
“Having Linesider published by NZR&LS allows me to concentrate on editing the magazine, while the NZR&LS organisation takes care of the many back-room tasks involved in running a magazine” says Darryl Bond, Editor of The Linesider.  NZR&LS Director and Chair of Publications, Bill Prebble, is delighted; “The Linesider is a quality magazine that fills an important niche in New Zealand’s rail interest market. Linesider will retain its look and feel and maintain its content focus, just like the NZ Railway Observer will continue its content focus. We are delighted to have Darryl and The Linesider come on board.”
It is envisaged that The Linesider will have a wider bookshop footprint, with availability in book stores that have previously not stocked the magazine. “This really is an exciting move for the railfan movement in New Zealand” says Darryl. Additionally, it is planned that subscribers to Linesider will benefit from special offers from NZR&LS in the future and similarly NZR&LS members will benefit from access to The Linesider  in future.
We will update you again later as we develop our plans.
Read more

Steam Train Sound Recordings From an Earlier Era

Dawson Wilkinson and Peter Mellor were pioneers of train recording in New Zealand in the 1950’s and 60’s. Using equipment that we would regard today as antiquated, large reel-to-reel tape recorders, vibrator converters and heavy lead cell batteries were carted to site and set up in advance of the train.  Peter Mellor was recently interviewed by Radio New Zealand about these recordings – click on the link to listen to this interesting interview and excerpts from some of the recordings.

Peter Mellor Air

 

Read more
Read older articles>>