Kapuni Branch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kapuni Branch
Overview
Other name(s)Opunake Branch, Kapuni Industrial Railway
StatusOpen
OwnerKiwiRail
TerminiTe Roti
Kapuni
Stations2
Service
Operator(s)KiwiRail
History
Opened1926
Closed beyond Kapuni1976
Technical
Line length11.76 km (7.31 mi)
was 36.4 km (22.6 mi)
Number of tracksSingle
CharacterRural
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map

  • v
Legend
 Te Roti
Waingongoro River
4.89km
 Matapu
7.18km
 Duthie Road
8.99km
 Palmer Road
11.73km
 Kapuni
Manaia Ballast Pit
17.04km
 Mangawhero Road
19.98km
 Auroa Road
27.28km
 Pihama
29.73km
 Punehu
33.03km
 Waiteika
36.41km
 Opunake

The Kapuni Branch, formerly known as the Opunake Branch, is a branch railway in North Island, New Zealand. It opened in 1924, and ran 36.4 km across the southern slopes of Mount Taranaki to link the rural town of Ōpunake with the Marton–New Plymouth Line at Te Roti. With the decline of rural freight, part of the line was closed in 1976, but the 10.9 km section to Kapuni was retained and upgraded to service traffic to the Kapuni natural gas field.

History[]

The branch line came about as a result of an election promise at the 1911 New Zealand general election.[1] A branch line of "about 23 miles" to Ōpunake was authorised in 1912 for £400,000 by the Railways Authorization Act 1912. Work commenced in 1914, and earthworks reached Kapuni by 1916, but progress was slowed by World War I. Work was suspended in December 1917, and recommenced in March 1919. At the peak 200 men were employed on line works, including a large 1.6 km cutting near Waiteika. The Waingongoro Bridge near Te Roiti, an unusual (for New Zealand) brick arch bridge, was completed in 1921, and the second bridge in 1923.

The Public Works Department began running goods trains to Kapuni from 1 August 1923, and to Mangawhero Road by December 1924. The Ōpunake terminal was reached on 8 June 1925. On 12 July 1926 the Railways Department took over the line, with three goods trains each way a week plus passenger services.[1]

A 9km spur from Kapuni to Manaia was built in 1920-24, but track was only laid as far as a ballast pit on the Kaupokonui River,[1] and the section as far as the ballast pit was closed and the track lifted by 1926.[2]

Passenger services on the branch ended on 16 October 1955. DB class diesel locomotives were used from December 1966, then DC class diesel locomotives from the 1980s. On April 1976 it was decided to close the line beyond Kapuni from July, and the 10.9 km section to Kapuni was upgraded and renamed the Kapuni Branch.[2]

Today the former 25.5km section from Kapuni to Ōpunake has "plenty of railway remnants to satisfy the enthusiast" with sections of roadbed, cuttings, goods shed and loading bay at Pihama and a locomotive shed, gateposts, a platform and goods loading bank at Ōpunake.[3]

References[]

Citations[]

  1. ^ a b c Leitch & Scott 1995, p. 25.
  2. ^ a b Yonge 1985, p. 10.
  3. ^ Leitch & Scott 1995, p. 26.

Bibliography[]

  • 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.
  • Hermann, Bruce J; North Island Branch Lines pp 49,50 (2007, New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society, Wellington) ISBN 978-0-908573-83-7
  • Yonge, John (1985). New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Third ed.). Quail Map Company. ISBN 090060932X.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""