Pictorial Parade No. 195 - After Ninety Years

Short Film (Full Length) – 1967

This fondly-remembered Pictorial Parade plunges down the famously steep grade of the Denniston Incline. The cable railway was the key means of transporting ‘black gold’ from the isolated Denniston Plateau to Westport. The engineering marvel fell 518 metres over just 1670 metres. It brought down 13 million tonnes of coal and many hardy families, despite notorious brake failures. This film was made just before the mine and railway ceased operating, as “old king coal” was supplanted by oil. Director Hugh Macdonald writes about making it, and a companion film, here.

Sometimes of course there were runaways, particularly in the early days when periodically the brakes snapped at the top, and the brakeman and everyone else near had to run for their lives.
– From the narration

Key Cast & Crew

Hugh Macdonald

Director, Writer, Editor

Brian Cross

Camera

Geoffrey Scott

Producer

Ron Bowie

Producer

Max Winnie

Composer

Kit Rollings

Sound Mix

See all 9 credits

Produced by

The National Film Unit

Source

Archives New Zealand

Music

Music composed and arranged by Max Winnie.

Performed by Winnie (guitar), Colin Heath (double bass) and members of the Hamilton County Bluegrass Band: Colleen Trenwith (nee Bain) on violin, and Paul Trenwith on banjo