Moutohora Branch
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The Moutohora Branch was a
Built to the New Zealand standard 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge the line was originally intended to become part of a railway to Auckland via Rotorua, and later as part of an
The branch had four names during its lifetime. Initially, it was authorised as a Gisborne to Rotorua line and labelled as such in the
Construction
The first report on proposals to link Gisborne and the rest of Poverty Bay to the outside world by rail was made in 1886, but nothing eventuated at that time.[2] In April 1897 the East Coast Railway League was established to press for the development of rail connections,[2] and in 1899 the Government announced that Gisborne was to be connected to Auckland by a line of rail.[6] Work on the line started in early 1900. On 14 January the then Minister for Railways, the Joseph Ward, turned the first sod.[6] The first 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the line ran across coastal plains with few obstacles, and the line was opened to Kaitaratahi on 10 November 1902.[7] A Gisborne-Rotorua line from Makaraka to Mōtū of about 37 miles (60 km) was authorised by the Railways Authorisation Act, 1904.[8] An eventual connection to the Rotorua Branch disappeared after a 1911 survey to connect the "Gisborne Section" with the East Coast Main Trunk.[9]
Once past this point the line required large river bridging works, four
Once at Moutohora, even though over the main divide, there was no easy way for the railway to link up with the rest of the NZR network, as a definitive line for a connection to the Bay of Plenty had never been identified.
There was briefly interest in reviving a connection when the
Operations
Until connected with the Palmerston North – Gisborne Line in 1942 the Moutohora branch served a purely local function in maintaining access to Gisborne's hinterland. The line had heavy traffic in its early years and consistently showed an operating profit[2] In the 12 months between April 1903 and March 1904, when only about 21 km of line were open, the approximately 6,500 people in the district made 47,706 single or return passenger journeys, and 4,464 tonnes of freight were carried.[9]
In 1919-1920, with the full length of the line in operation, over 30,000 tonnes of freight were carried.
By 1930 most of the economically accessible timber had been cut out and sawmills along the line began closing down. Road metal and livestock continued to provide reasonably large tonnages, but with the onset of the depression both passenger and freight operations fell away, with only a small fraction of the district's primary produce being exported.[9]
Even when economic conditions improved rail traffic did not recover to pre-depression levels until the imposition of road traffic restrictions and petrol rationing during the 1939-1945 war years. In August 1942 the Moutohora branch was connected to the rest of the NZR network via the Palmerston North – Gisborne Line, causing a temporary increase to nearly 70,000 passenger journeys on the branch in the 1942-1943 year.[9] After 1944, and the partial easing of some road transport restrictions, passenger numbers and freight fell away dramatically.[19] Because of the combination of reduced passenger numbers and wartime coal shortages, passenger services were withdrawn from the branch on 29 January 1945.[2] They were replaced by a 24-seat New Zealand Railways Road Services bus.[21]
Motive power and train working
For the first seven years from 1902 two
Despite the heavy gradients train working was not as difficult as may have been expected. Most of the uphill traffic comprised empty wagons being sent to transport the district's primary produce back to Gisborne. The heavy downhill trains required more braking power than tractive effort, and special train management rules were in place to ensure a safe descent into Poverty Bay.[5]
Closure
As freight volumes continued to decrease the viability of the branch came into question, particularly as it was now clear the connection with the Bay of Plenty would never be made. In 1952 a Royal Commission was appointed to look into the profitability of branch lines, including the Moutohora branch. The Commission sanctioned the retention of the branch for the time being, but made it clear to the local citizens that it was a case of "use it or lose it."[5]
The development of
Today
Five kilometres of the Moutohora branch remain vacant to Makaraka, as the industrial siding to service a fruit storehouse closed in the late 80s.
The East Coast Museum of Technology is the current terminus of what it left of the Gisborne to Moutohora Branch Line, with plans to restore the Makaraka section and run services with GCVR and ECMoT's own Locomotives.
Locomotive D 143, one of the two D class locomotives to work on the line in the first few years, has survived and is now in preservation at the Silver Stream Heritage Railway at Silverstream in the Hutt Valley near Wellington.
Locomotive WA 165, which arrived in 1911 to work the Gisborne section (as it was then) has also survived in preservation. Now owned by the Gisborne City Vintage Railway Incorporated, it has been returned to running order and is regularly steamed to provide excursions.
See also
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-0-908573-83-7.
- ^ a b c d e f Leitch & Scott 1995, p. 19.
- ^ a b c Churchman & Hurst 2001, p. 150.
- ^ "Moutohora Railway Station". gazetteer.linz.govt.nz. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Wood 1996, p. 47.
- ^ a b Wood 1996, p. 33.
- ^ a b New Zealand Railways Geographical Mileage Table, 1957
- ^ "Railways Authorisation Act, 1904". NZ Law online. 1904.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wood 1996, p. 45.
- ^ Wood 1996, p. 37.
- ^ "AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 November 1901. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ "MR. WALLACE J. MASSEY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 April 1936. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ^ "POVERTY BAY HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 November 1910. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
- ^ Wood 1996, p. 42.
- ^ a b Wood 1996, p. 44.
- ^ Wood 1996, p. 78.
- ^ a b Bromby 2003, p. 65.
- ^ Wood 1996, p. 93.
- ^ a b c Wood 1996, p. 46.
- ^ Bromby 2003, p. 148.
- ^ "New Road Service". Auckland Star. 1 February 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ Leitch & Scott 1995, p. 20.
- ^ Leitch & Scott 1995, p. 21.
Bibliography
- Bromby, Robin (2003). Rails that built a Nation: An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand Railways. Wellington: Grantham House. ISBN 1-86934-080-9.
- Churchman, Geoffrey B; Hurst, Tony (2001) [1990, 1991]. The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey through History (Second ed.). Transpress New Zealand. ISBN 0-908876-20-3.
- Leitch, David; Scott, Brian (1995). Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways (1998 ed.). Wellington: Grantham House. ISBN 1-86934-048-5.
- Mulligan, Barbara (2000). New Zealand Rail Trails: A Guide to 42 Ghost Lines. Wellington: Grantham House Publishing. pp. 37–44. ISBN 978-1-86934-126-8.
- Wood, Chris (1996). Steaming to the Sunrise; a history of railways in the Gisborne region. Gisborne, New Zealand: IPL Books, in conjunction with Te Rau Herald Print. ISBN 0-908876-92-0.
External links
- Information about the Otoko walkway, which follows part of the old roadbed Department of Conservation
- Silver Stream Railway 'D' class history
- Gisborne City Vintage Railway Inc. information about Wa165
- Remnants of the Moutohora Branch Today
- Photo of Karaka Tunnel, construction workers and horse in 1906
- Photo of start of construction of Tunnel 3 at Waihuka in 1908, bridge and tunnel and view from the tunnel in 1910
- Photo of train at Karaka in 1909, at Otoko in 1910 and at Matawai in 1913
- Photos of construction work in 1912
- Photo of first train at Motuhora in 1917