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Story: Coal and coal mining

Offloading coal

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Offloading coal

Much of the West Coast coal, whether shipped from Greymouth or Westport, travelled across Cook Strait to Wellington. There it was either transferred to the railway and sent to other parts of the North Island or loaded into wagons, as shown in this 1910 photograph, to be taken to heat Wellington homes or provide gas.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Sydney Charles Smith Collection (PA-Group-00242)

Reference: 1/1-020028; G

by Sydney Charles Smith

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

Alan Sherwood and Jock Phillips, Coal and coal mining – The 19th century, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7426/offloading-coal (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Alan Sherwood and Jock Phillips, published 2 March 2009.