Good afternoon. In our last blog post we proposed that web maps for Volume 6 (Wairarapa Line), based on the previously published static images for Volume 6, would become available this week. We are pleased to announce that a preview for part of Volume 6, from Wellington to Waterloo in the Hutt Valley, is now available for use.

Click here to view the preview interactive webmaps for Volume 6

These maps incorporate 15 historical aerial or base layers covering from 1900 to 2009 and these can be selected using a layers control that is displayed in the browser at top right. When the page first loads, Diagrams are loaded and displayed by default, but selecting a different layer in the list available from the layers control will display maps using that particular base layer.

The Volume 6 preview is intended to show how a variety of different eras of aerial photography can be incorporated within the maps. The diagrams and base maps are all available at zoom levels 12-19 and we expect that this will become the standard for NZ Rail Maps webmaps on this site.

As with our Volume 1 preview we are expecting that further content will be added to both volumes over time as part of the development process. We are expecting to develop a scripting system to automate the generation of tiles for the various eras represented in the maps and use this to produce the rest of the tiles needed to complete all volumes. The Volume 6 preview in particular also need adjustments and corrections made in some of the historical aerial layers and captions need to be provided for all of the aerial photos (in the same way as they are presently displayed in Volume 1).