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Story: Canterbury places

Traction engines, Coalgate

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Traction engines, Coalgate

Coalgate, near the settlement of Glentunnel, took its name from the local deposits of coal. These traction engines, photographed at Coalgate Railway Station in 1913, were hauling building materials to Lake Coleridge, to assist in building the hydroelectric power station there.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/1-008122; G

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, Canterbury places – Darfield district, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/10259/traction-engines-coalgate (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 2 March 2009, updated 17 August 2015.