User:Axver/Articles
This page contains all the articles that I have created on Wikipedia and a to-do list of future pages. I used to maintain this list on my userpage but it was getting overly long and I feared it looked vain, so I moved it here. I maintain it as a convenient point of reference and to keep track of what I have and haven't done. It evolved out of a list of lines that branched from the Main South Line that needed articles. It quickly grew into an attempt to cover every New Zealand railway line and subsequently expanded into other fields. I am not including disambiguation pages in this list.
As this page was pretty boring as a mere list, I have chosen to insert some personal commentary in the hopes that it may liven things up a little. I doubt anybody particularly cares, but it at least adds something to the page and provides the kind of personal thoughts absent from my main user page.
New Zealand railway lines
I feel these tend to be my best articles. Some pictures would be incredibly handy, though. I am currently adding line maps to those articles for which I have sufficient information.
General North Island
This covers the inter-regional trunk routes. I honestly find these boring and tiresome to write. There is so much material to cover and frankly, I find the main routes lack substantial appeal. They can be so homogenised and characterless nowadays.
Northland
Northland's an interesting place as far as railways go. It developed really haphazardly and the full vision of a trunk route to the Far North was never achieved. It was also one of the very last places in New Zealand where mixed trains operated, but now is devoid of passenger service.
Manawatu-Wanganui and Central North Island
The amount of times I have accidentally written "Samson Tramway" is unbelievable. I'm amazed I didn't create the article under that name! And the Taonui Branch has to be the single most insignificant line ever incorporated into the NZR. It makes the Tokarahi Branch seem like a bustling main trunk route in comparison!
Castlecliff Branch, Foxton Branch, Sanson Tramway, Raetihi Branch, Taonui Branch, Wanganui Branch
Wellington/Hutt Valley
My home turf. This is where I acquired my fascination with railways.
Hutt Park Railway, Melling Branch, Te Aro Extension
General South Island
See my comments for General North Island. That said, I find these lines a bit more interesting. The agonisingly slow development of the Main North Line is fascinating and prior to its completion it had the rural character I value; the Main South Line's branches provide endless fascination; and what Kiwi railfan doesn't find anything on the West Coast absolutely intriguing?
West Coast
Now these lines had charm. I do wish I could find more information on the Rapahoe Branch though. For some reason, detail seems extremely scarce.
Blackball Branch, Conns Creek Branch, Rapahoe Branch, Rewanui Branch, Ross Branch, Seddonville Branch
Canterbury
Ah, rural branch lines. Now we're talking!
Otago
Ah, even more rural branch lines. The Otago region has some of my favourite railway history. I would love to model the Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches. My family, many generations ago, lived in Livingstone near Tokarahi; the branch was originally called the Livingstone Branch. The ruins of the old family house can still be seen.
Catlins River Branch, Dunback and Makareao Branches, Fernhill Branch, Kaitangata Line, Kurow Branch, Moeraki Branch, Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches, Outram Branch, Port Chalmers Branch, Roxburgh Branch, Shag Point Branch, Tapanui Branch, Walton Park Branch
Southland
It's really sad to see what's happened to the Southland network. It once had such a strong concentration of lines, and now it's almost totally gone. Hard to believe that Lumsden, now without a railway, once had lines fanning out to all four points of the compass.
Significant proposals
The proposed lines of New Zealand's history really intrigue me and it's a shame some of them never happened - especially the linkage of the East Coast Main Trunk with the Moutohora Branch. I am genuinely curious as to how the Canterbury Interior Main Line would have turned out. It will also be nice when I finally get to move the Marsden Point Branch out of this category and into the Northland section, but I suspect that won't be happening until at least the next decade.
Canterbury Interior Main Line, Marsden Point Branch
New Zealand locomotive classes
Battery-electric engines
You just don't hear about these little beasts at all. Their obscurity makes them absolutely fascinating to me.
Diesel-electric engines
I meant to write more articles on the different classes but never got around to it - luckily other editors did. Personally, I'm quite strongly interested in the DA class. They were the first locomotives I ever really took notice of, as a couple are owned by Steam Incorporated in Paekakariki and as a little child, I thought they looked cool.
Railcars
Out of all forms of motive power to operate on NZR, railcars easily provide me with the greatest degree of fascination.
Steam engines
You just can't go past steam engines. I have a particular fondness for the Ab class; to me, they are the most attractive steam locomotives to ever operate anywhere.
New Zealand preservation societies
My greatest regret about living outside New Zealand is that I cannot actively participate in any of these.
New Zealand passenger trains
A lot of people are fascinated by the prominent expresses: the South Island Limiteds and Silver Stars of the world. I, however, find the most interest in the provincial expresses that operated throughout the country. It's hard to believe that places like little Culverden and Taneatua once had their own expresses. Though, to be fair, in New Zealand, "express" was normally a bit of a misnomer!
New Zealand railway stations
There seems to be an ongoing debate about whether all railway stations should be considered encyclopaedic. Consensus seems to favour their inclusion and I agree with that, but the debate about the less significant ones meant I held back for a long time on making railway station articles. However, a need became clear for more articles on Wellington region stations to fill in gaps, so I've begun to pitch in.
Other New Zealand railways articles
These don't really have a clear category. Just for the record, A. L. Beattie is an absolute legend. I'm thinking about doing more articles on significant figures in Kiwi railway history.
A. L. Beattie, Little River Rail Trail
Other transport articles
Just to prove I'm not totally biased towards railways, here's a category with an article I wrote on the airport whose southern flightpath I lived under as a child.
Music
It seems most bands I care about who are sufficiently notable already have decent articles, which is pleasing. Music is my life, but I prefer to review it than write encyclopaedically about it.
New Zealand geography
I am absolutely fascinated by geography - all geography, everywhere. I don't write about New Zealand out of a sense of national bias; it's actually an extension of my railway work and I've found myself enjoying it for what it is. I initially began writing these pages just to get rid of red links on railway articles. Now it's nice to see New Zealand's geography get fleshed out, given how much is written on some other countries. It's a shame sources can be quite hard to come by, though.
Towns, localities, other settlements
Rivers, lakes, other waterbodies
Other features
Templates
{{NZR Heritage}} {{NZR Lines}} {{NZR Passenger}}
The original design for {{
Significant contributions
The definition of "significant" is really pretty subjective. In terms of content, work on just one small section can be very significant: for example, I would consider my edits to 4-6-2 and 4-8-2 to be very significant, as they previously claimed the wheel arrangements were pioneered in the US rather than New Zealand. However, for the purposes of this list, I'm just including those that I added a significant quantity of text. In most cases, these are articles I intended to start myself at some date.
I have also added a significant amount of setlist data to many U2 song articles, but I do not keep track of this activity. I consider my U2 setlist work on Wikipedia to be a mere aside, while my work on New Zealand railways and geography is my central focus.
To-do list
Railway lines
General North Island
Significantly expand
Auckland/Waikato
Bay Of Plenty
Taranaki/Wanganui
Hawkes Bay/Gisborne
Ahuriri Branch, Moutohora Branch, Ngatapa Branch
Wellington/Wairarapa
Significantly expand Johnsonville Branch, perhaps add some stuff to Greytown Branch.
General South Island
Significantly expand Midland Line.
West Coast
Canterbury
Otago
Dunedin Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway, significantly expand Otago Central Railway.
Locomotive classes
Every class without an article on this list.
Long distance passenger trains
- Gisborne Express
- Otago Central passenger train (Although there was no specific express, I believe the passenger service is sufficiently notable for an article.)
- South Express
- West Coast Express (train)
- Find out whether there really was a Fairlie Flyer or if the name was applied retroactively in the dying days of the Fairlie Branch.
- Perhaps also an article on the NIMT expresses pre-Daylight and Night Limited? Or an overview of all NIMT passenger trains? Might be better suited to the NIMT article itself.
Other railway articles
I would like to significantly expand Tangiwai disaster and Hyde railway disaster. One has to wonder why I am a railfan when I lost relatives in both of New Zealand's worst railway accidents.
New Zealand geography
Whenever I create an article on a railway line in New Zealand, I find the page is full of red links. In such cases - and in the subsequent articles I create - I maintain a policy of "death to red links through new articles" and keep going as long as I have the energy and resources. I do, however, have one specific goal: I would like to expand Raumati, my hometown, so that it is no longer a stub.