Waiuku and Mission Bush Branches

Waiuku and Mission Bush Branches
Waiuku and Mission Bush Branches
Overview
Status	Open to Mission Bush, Waiuku branch partially open as GVR
Owner	KiwiRail
Termini	Paerata; Mission Bush (Glenbrook Steel Mill); Waiuku (GVR)
Service
Operator(s)	KiwiRail
Rolling stock	None
History
Opened	10 May 1922 (Waiuku); 7 October 1968 (Mission Bush)
Closed	31 December 1967 (Glenbrook to Waiuku)
Technical
Line length	17.09 km (10.62 mi) Pukekohe - Mission Bush; 18.08 km (11.23 mi) Pukekohe - Waiuku
Number of tracks	Single
Character	Rural
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map
	Legend
	North Island Main Trunk
	← Britomart │ Wellington →
	This diagram: view; ; ;

The Waiuku and Mission Bush Branches are two branches on the New Zealand railway network which are closely linked. The Mission Bush Branch connects the North Island Main Trunk railway to the Glenbrook Steel Mill.

History[]

Proposed as early as 1880,^[1] and surveyed along a more southerly alignment in 1883,^[2] the branch line to Waiuku was finally authorised in 1912, following the election of William Massey, the local MP for Waiuku, as Prime Minister. The first sod was turned on 19 February 1914,^[3] in a ceremony at Waiuku.^[4] Progress was slow, and the branch did not open until 5 January 1922, with more work to finish until the line was fully open.^[5] The line was not very profitable, and passenger services were withdrawn on 17 July 1948, being replaced by buses.^[4]

In 1966 it was announced a new 5.5 km (3.4 mi) spur line would be built from Glenbrook to the New Zealand Steel steel mill at Mission Bush.^[6] Traffic continued to decline, until the line was closed on 31 December 1967 to Waiuku. The construction of the steel mill was the line's saviour. The spur line to the steel mill was opened on 7 October 1968.^[4]

The remaining section from Glenbrook to Waiuku was in the process of being lifted until it was taken over by the Glenbrook Vintage Railway. The line has been extended into Waiuku following the old branch as far as the last curve where it deviates. The line presently terminates at Victoria Avenue in Waiuku, a short walk from the centre of the town, with plans the eventually terminate the line at the Tamakai reserve, next to the old wharf.

The extension to Victoria Ave was completed by Easter of 2010 with the first passenger carrying train running on the line on 3 April 2010, hauled by J^A 1250. The extension was officially opened to the public on Labour Weekend (23 October 2010) by Kevin Lawrence, former Waiuku Borough Mayor, and Len Brown, Mayor of Auckland.

Services[]

Services currently consist of Five trains per day.^[7] Inbound trains include bulk lime and coal trains, and outbound trains carry export steel to the Port of Tauranga.

References[]

^ "RAILWAY COMMISSION (REPORT OF.) Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives — 1880 Session I — E-03 Page XVI". atojs.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "RAILWAY TO WAIUKU. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 January 1922. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Stations" (PDF). NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Churchman & Hurst 2001, p. 102.
^ "WAIUKU RAILWAY OPEN. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 January 1922. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
^ "New Railway to Serve New Zealand Steel Mill". New Zealand Railway Observer. New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. 23 (107): 34. Autumn 1966. ISSN 0028-8624.
^ "North Island Master Plan". Retrieved 6 September 2020.^{[dead link]}

Waiuku and Mission Bush Branches

Contents

History[]

Services[]

References[]

Further reading[]