Waitara Branch

Waitara Branch
Overview
Other name(s)	Waitara Industrial Line
Status	Preserved
Owner	Waitara Railway Preservation Society
Locale	Taranaki, New Zealand
Termini	Lepperton Waitara
Stations	4
Service
Type	Heavy Rail
System	New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR)
Operator(s)	Waitara Railway Preservation Society
History
Commenced	1872
Opened	14 October 1875
Closed	2 February 1999
Technical
Line length	7.25 km (4.50 mi)
Number of tracks	Single
Character	Rural
Track gauge	3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm)
Route map v Legend 7.25km Waitara Port Sidings Borthwicks Freezing Works Whitaker Street 6.8km Waitara Grey Street Browne Street Cracoft Street SH 3 (Big Jims Overpass) Waitara Road 4.0km Waitara Road Waitara Co-operative Dairy Company Richmond Road Kairau Road East Waiongana Stream Te Arei Road West 1.2km Sentry Hill former route to New Plymouth Marton - New Plymouth Line 0.00km Lepperton Marton - New Plymouth Line

The Waitara Branch is a branch line railway 7.245 km long in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island. It was built as part of the region's first railway, linking New Plymouth with the closest suitable port, then the river port of Waitara. In 1884 the Breakwater port was opened in New Plymouth, but the line was saved when a (meat) freezing works was opened at Waitara in 1885.

For many years the line served the Borthwicks freezing works in town, until it closed in 1995. Services ceased on 16 June 1995.^[1] The branch was closed on 2 February 1999.^[2] The line has since been purchased by the Waitara Railway Preservation Society, who now operate tourist trains on the line.

Construction[]

In 1872 surveys began for the best route and two were considered: a coastal route which was more direct, and an inland route which was longer, but more convenient for future extensions to the south. The inland route was chosen. The contract to build the railway was let in 1873 and the line was completed and opened in October 1875.

In 1874, while the land was being cleared at Sentry Hill for the new railway, the daughter of William Perrett (a labourer working on the line) was abducted after he had ignored requests not to dig through a Māori burial ground from the New Zealand Wars a decade earlier. Caroline Perrett (known to all as "Queenie") was not seen by her parents again and not rediscovered by her original family until 1926, 52 years after the incident occurred.^[3][4]

Stations[]

The following stations were located on the Waitara Branch. Distance measured from final junction in Lepperton.

Station Name	Distance	Opened	Closed Passenger	Closed Freight
Lepperton	0km	12 Nov 1894	21 Jan 1983	22 Sep 1986
Sentry Hill	1.2km	14 Oct 1875	29 Apr 1946	5 Dec 1963
Waitara Road	4.0km	c. 1883	29 Apr 1946	2 Feb 1999
Waitara	6.8km	14 Oct 1875	29 Apr 1946	2 Feb 1999

Waitara's original Class 5 station building was located on the North side of the tracks (close to where the good shed was eventually located).^[5] The replacement station building was located on the South (town) side of the yard when it was built in 1893.^[6]

Station buildings at Waitara Road and Sentry Hill were simple Class 7 shelter sheds, befitting their status as flag stops only.

Operation[]

The line was officially opened on 14 October 1875, with the first train departing New Plymouth with around 100 passengers.^[7] Trains were operated initially by two A class locomotives named "Fox" and "Ferret" which ran mixed trains services over the line.^[8] The first trip over the line took just 46 minutes to complete.^[9] Shortly after the railway was complete, extensions began due south from Sentry Hill alongside Mountain Road towards Inglewood, which was opened in 1877.

When first constructed, the junction at Sentry Hill was built facing Waitara. This meant that trains heading from Inglewood and points further south would have to stop at Sentry Hill and the locomotive would have to change ends of the train before it could continue on to New Plymouth. This was not rectified until 1908 when a diversion was constructed, allowing trains to operate from the south directly towards New Plymouth. At the same time, the Waitara Line was extended to Lepperton Station where a new junction was built, and the direct link between Waitara and New Plymouth was removed.

Passenger services were usually run as mixed services, and a service was run early in the morning to take children to high school in New Plymouth, returning in the late afternoon. In 1877 there were two return services, operated from New Plymouth,^[10] with a third service added three times a week by 1883.^[11] Passenger accommodation was removed after World War Two, to be replaced with Railways Road Service buses. These continued operating until 1991 when private enterprise took over the services.

Waitara's role as the main port for New Plymouth did not last long. Shortly after the line was completed a breakwater was built at what is now Port Taranaki and Waitara became a local port only. The establishment of a freezing works in 1887 provided steady traffic over the line and prevented the line from closure. Other notable traffic included plants from the Duncan & Davies nurseries and produce from the Waitara Co-operative (later Moa-Nui) Dairy Factory sidings, both at Waitara Road station.

Motive power[]

When the Waitara - New Plymouth railway line was opened the rolling stock consisted of "two 11-ton A class locomotives, ...three carriages, three box wagons, six low-sided wagons, two brake vans, two weighbridges and 12 tarpaulins". However issues with hauling trains up the 1-35 grade out of New Plymouth or the 1-40 grade out from Waitara led to two new C class locomotives being introduced, with the older locomotives being relegated to shunting duties. ^[12] The line continued to be served by tank engines for many years, including at various times F class and W^F class locomotives.

By the 1950s the line was operated by tender engines such as the A^B class, the last of which (A^B 708) departed Waitara Station on 8 November 1966.^[13] These were replaced with the DB class in the 1970s and DC and DSC class in the 1980s and 90s. In the final years it was not uncommon for trains to be replaced with trucks as tonnages declined.

Proposed extensions[]

Routes North[]

During the 1880s the final route for what would become the North Island Main Trunk railway between Auckland and Wellington was still being considered. The current route was decided in 1884, but, when it was realised just how difficult that route was, further surveys considered two other options in 1888. One of these was via Taumarunui to Waitara.

A practical route for the line was found by heading north from Waitara along the coast until reaching the Mimi River valley, before heading inland along the river valley. From the top of the valley, a tunnel to Tangarakau was needed, before following the Ohura River Valley. "The total distance is 40. miles, and the steepest gradient one in 50, and only two small tunnels will be required. The country is somewhat broken."^[14]

This proposal was still under consideration in 1893 (along with an alternative route linking just south of Stratford, which would eventually become the Stratford – Okahukara Line).^[15] Alternative survey considered taking the link up the Urenui River.^[16] A report in 1899 ended any chance of the route being built through Waitara, citing that the land for most of the route is not well suited for development and, as the route would not be able able to compete with sea travel, the aim of the route should be to connect as much back country as possible with the local port instead.^[17]

Extension to Urenui[]

In 1911 the Clifton Country Council passed a resolution calling for the railway to be extended to the township of Urenui,^[18],a distance of approximately 9 miles (14 km). It was stated that "That the ordinary traffic on the main road between Urenui and Waitara has increased to such proportions as to make a railway a matter of necessity," as well as citing the difficulty to sourcing suitable roading metal and the undue burden of the cost of maintaining the road. In 1912 North Taranaki Dairy Company lent their support to the idea, suggesting the extension run further to Mimi Junction.^[19]

Such an extension would have required a substantial bridge over the Waitara river, with an opening span to allow for steamer traffic to pass through.^[20]

Light railway to Te Kuiti[]

In 1920 another extension proposal was put forward by the Clifton County Council, this time for a light railway between Waitara and Te Kuiti via Mokau and its coal mines.^[21] Concern was raised by some councils that this might hamper the push for the completion of the Main North Road and the Mokau River bridge. Nothing came of this proposal.

Notable events[]

At 2:00am on the morning of 15 June 1893, the station building at Waitara was burned to the ground by a fire originating in the lamp room of the building. It was reported that "all the records were burnt, but the safe with cash is intact."^[22] Consideration was given in the following months to relocating the Ngaire station building to Waitara as a replacement.^[23]

In 1929 preparations were made to replace the level crossing between the railway and the New-Plymouth - Auckland highway.^[24] The level crossing was replaced with an overpass for the highway, known todays as Big Jim's Overpass.

On the 3rd March 1962 A^B817 was taken for a joyride from the Waitara Engine shed to the top of Big Jims hill by four locals (including an former railways employee) in the early hours of the morning. The engine was then driven back to the Waitara station yard. ^[25]

At the other end of the line, the island railway station at Lepperton Junction was replaced in 1965^[26] with a smaller station adjacent to Mountain Road (State Highway 3A), that survived onsite until 1994 when the building was removed (having been sold in 1992).^[27]

Closure and preservation[]

In 1999, Tranz Rail announced that the Waitara Branch, along with the Hautapu-Cambridge section of the Cambridge Branch railway, were to close. After the AFFCO freezing works had closed, there was little prospect of much new freight traffic being on offer. On 25 May 1999 the Waitara Railway Preservation Society was formed with the aim to save the line. This goal was finally achieved in 2001^[28] when the line was purchased with the help of grants from the Taranaki Electricity Trust and the TSB Community Trust.

Since that time passenger services have resumed and work is being done to rehabilitate the line. The former Tahora railway station^[29] building has been relocated to the site of the former Waitara Road station and various carriages, locomotives and other rolling stock is being restored to operational standards for use on the line.

Other railway buildings[]

Aside from the railway proper, other railway buildings still exist in the vicinity. The former Sentry Hill goods shed is still extant a short distance from where it originally stood. It is visible behind the Lepperton Tennis Club courts on Manutahi Road, which has been there since the 1950s.^[30]In Waitara, two-thirds of the former Midhurst railway station sits on Memorial Place next to the War Memorial Hall. By the river mouth, the former north signal box from Stratford was relocated to Waitara in 1960 as a clubhouse for the Waitara Boating Club.^[31]

Official name[]

When first opened the railway line was generally referred to using variations of "New Plymouth Waitara Railway." From 1877 when the line to Inglewood opened, it became the "Waitara Branch Railway" and this name was reconfirmed on 5 May 1977 in The New Zealand Gazette.^[32] On 13 August 1996 the line was officially renamed as the "Waitara Industrial Line",^[33] the legal name it carries to this day.

References[]

Citations[]

Bibliography[]

External links[]

• Waitara Railway Preservation Society
• Sentry Hill station c. 1880
• Lepperton Goods Shed in 1963
• Former Taranaki stations, Including Waitara and Midhurst station buildings