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Foxton Railway
Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:53:22+00:00Manawatu’s first railway was the Foxton-Palmerston route –constructed in 1873 as a wooden tramway with horse-drawn wagons running along it.
But wooden rails were not durable enough to carry steam locomotives and as the first three eight ton engines were ordered for the line – the Skunk, the Possum and the Wallaby – work began on replacing the wooden rails with iron. The first train ran from Foxton to Palmerston along the completed iron railway in April 1876.