Ramblings of a much published New Zealand author

26 March 2011

New Zealand Odyssey: Raurimu and The Spiral

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.



I illustrated this simple little railway shed in 1987 because it's one of thousands across the country, all the same, all designed to the formula: 'keep it simple, keep it cheap'. In doing so, it's not only a nicely proportioned piece of work with a fine  example of good signwriting, it is also modest. 

In this case it's very, very modest because it marks one of the most notable railway engineering achievements in the world. The famous Raurimu Spiral, at a gradient of 1:52, through a series of loops, spirals, tunnels and bridges overcomes a height difference of 132 metres from bottom to top. What's more, it was built in 1898 and still works.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz

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Blurb

RANDOM SAMPLINGS F...
By Don Donovan