One of New Zealand’s most heart-wrenching and powerful national stories is that of the Tangiwai railway disaster, which left 151 dead and a nation devastated. 

The tragedy occurred on Christmas Eve of 1953 when an overnight railway carriage, travelling from Wellington to Auckland, crashed in an area called Tangiwai (which means "weeping waters" in Maori). The train plunged into the Whangaehu River, after the railway it was traveling on flooded due to a lahar, just minutes earlier from Mt Ruapehu. 

One of the many victims that night was a nineteen-year-old girl called Nerissa Love. Her fiance, Bob Blair was in South Africa at the time, due to play for the New Zealand national team in a cricket Test Match on Boxing Day. Despite hearing of the tragic news, Bob Blair still went out to bat for his country that day, showing courage and bravery to a nation mourning. His actions are remembered today and it was this story which inspired the telefeature drama, Tangiwai: A Love Story. 

If you wish to learn more about the Tangiwai disaster, visit New Zealand History Online.