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Men of the Milford Road
The men who built the Milford Road and Homer Tunnel in the 1930s were for the most part victims of the Depression. This is their story
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
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February 22, 2023
Anyone who has travelled by road to Milford Sound in New Zealand’s Fiordland will have travelled along the Milford Road & through the Homer Tunnel. This delightful book tells the story of the ‘Men of the Road’ involved in the construction of this road through remote, ruggedly beautiful mountain country & the excavation of the Homer Tunnel in the mid to late 1930s - “when ‘Digger’ Scully and a party of seven trundled their heavy wooden wheelbarrows up the valley and camped in the old Homer hut. By early in 1936 the tunnel gang was working underground.
Harold Anderson, the author, had secured a job during the Depression years with the Public Works Department in Invercargill, and became the paymaster for all the road crews along the Milford Road, from Te Anau to the Homer Tunnel - the most important man on the project! The book is full of anecdotes on the characters he met, the stories they told, the events & occasional tragedies of a road construction project during the Depression years, as well as hunting & fishing excursions he participated in, often in his trusty Austin 7 which he bought new for £231. And sold after 18 years & 92,000 miles for £135!
As I am a tour guide in New Zealand, I have found this book the snippets of information contained in this book very useful for my commentaries on the way into Milford Sound.
Harold Anderson, the author, had secured a job during the Depression years with the Public Works Department in Invercargill, and became the paymaster for all the road crews along the Milford Road, from Te Anau to the Homer Tunnel - the most important man on the project! The book is full of anecdotes on the characters he met, the stories they told, the events & occasional tragedies of a road construction project during the Depression years, as well as hunting & fishing excursions he participated in, often in his trusty Austin 7 which he bought new for £231. And sold after 18 years & 92,000 miles for £135!
As I am a tour guide in New Zealand, I have found this book the snippets of information contained in this book very useful for my commentaries on the way into Milford Sound.
Displaying 1 of 1 review