More Info →Workmen excavating soil from a cutting, c.1884

Object type:Image

Description: Written on back of one of the copies with blue ballpoint pen - N. Clayton. Shn

Workmen excavating soil from a cutting, c.1884 1 B&W photo print, copy (plus additional copy)

6 men with shovels loading horse-drawn carts. Could be excavating cutting for railway to pass through or excavating spoil for railway foundation / embankment through one of many swamp areas (possibly Makerua Swamp) that required enormous quantities of fill (see pages 24 to 26 in book – “From Bush & Swamp”).

Construction work on the railway in the Shannon area commenced late 1882 / early 1883 and was completed in 1885.

Any use of this image must be accompanied by the credit “Horowhenua Historical Society Inc.”