Auckland Suburban Railway Handbook 2007-8
This handbook, written by Sean Millar, arrived on my desk in the morning post. I decided that I would look at it later in the week. But it’s been sitting there, nagging at me. So in the end, I gave in and read through it.
Now, I don’t live in Auckland, and on a personal level have very little need for such a handbook, but within two minutes of reading I knew two things.
First, that I can tell a labour of love when I see it. The attention to detail is superb – the look and feel are just right, and evoke something of an old-fashioned ‘train timetable’ feel.
Second, that if I lived in Auckland, this would be an essential must-have handbook. Okay, it can get a bit train-spotter-ish at times, telling me information which on the face of it I just don’t need to know (for example, “The DV class locomotives have their origins in the mid-1950s General Motors export model known as the G12″), but when you put it all together – history, ownership & organisation, developments, future possibilities, services, and hot topics (like rail transport and climate change) it’s one of the more succinct, digestible, engaging and useful examples of social/public transport that I’ve come across for quite some time.
There is little doubt that rail transport in Auckland has its problems and challenges. However, whether you love it or hate it, public transport solutions like rail, far from being perceived as a second rate form of transport, will become the mode of choice. Or at least it will, so long as investment and development are continued with vision, and we move beyond the domination of the minority voice of the conservative self-interested.
As the book itself makes clear – it’s not a timetable. If you want that, go to MAXX.
The price, at $7.90, is reasonable too. You can obtain it from our shop (hopefully), or from the author seanmillar@clear.net.nz.
ISBN 0-908726-51-1
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