Description
Frank Up Central: from teen under steam in the 1940s to nonagenarian on pedals in the 2000s. Auther: Laura van Peer.
The background to this production is that, in 2007, four generations of the author’s family cycled the Otago Central Rail Trail to mark her Dad’s 80th birthday. Before the trip her Dad said “I can tell you the curve of every corner and the gradient of every hill”. It turned out that in 1944 and 1945 when he was a teenager her Dad was a Junior Porter on the Central Otago Railway line that ran between Dunedin and Cromwell.
The cycling trip was such a success that they made it a yearly event until 2017 when they celebrated his 90th. Over the years as they cycled Dad told stories about his time on the OCL: for example; backing the trains to avoid a slump, brake failure on Tiger Hill, and clear memories of both VE and VJ Days. Bill Cowan (Rails to Cromwell) commented, “Had I been aware of this material [I] would certainly have incorporated most, if not all of it, in “Rails to Cromwell”.
The format is paperback, A4 size, 28 pages comprising photos (from the cycling trips) and text (Dad’s stories of his time on the line in the 1940s).
Also featured are photographs taken on the Otago Rail Trail during the family cycling trips.
