After 1983 the line continued to be used by freight trains and excursions, but beyond Wairoa, the section to Gisborne was closed by slips in 2012 and mothballed. The Napier-Wairoa section reopened in 2019 following a $6.2 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund, though log trains were soon suspended, due to Covid-19, until November 2020.[1] The line was again closed when Cyclone Gabrielle damaged more than 400 sites in February 2023. A decision has not yet (2025) been made on whether to restore or mothball it. The line north of the 191 km post is designated a construction site, requiring permission for access.[2] Kiwirail is protecting the line so that it can be reopened.[3]
Bay View railway station
Bay View station had a shelter shed, platform, 30 feet (9.1m) x 20 feet (6.1m) goods shed, loading bank, cattle and sheep yards and a passing loop for 41 wagons. Railway houses were built in 1932 and 1933.[4] In 1936 one was renovated and painted, electric light installed and one was moved from Bay View to Eskdale.[5] In 1967 a temporary siding stored workshop wagons.[4]
History
1922-1931
By August 1922 the rails were within a mile of the station[6] and reached it in October 1922.[7][8] It was then named Pētane, which was changed to Kai Arero on 15 October 1923[9] and then Bay View from 7 January 1924.[10] Pētane was a transliteration of a missionary name of Bethany[11] and Kai Arero referred to eating a tongue.[12] The first Napier-Eskdale train ran on 20 July 1923.[13] A Sunday train was added in 1925,[14] but replaced by a railway bus from February 1930,[15] as it was thought cheaper than running trains.[16] In 1924 almost a mile of line between Westshore and Bay View was undermined by the sea.[17] Electric lighting came in 1929.[18]
1931-1983
In the 3 February 1931 earthquake, the maximum uplift of 6 feet (1.8m) was at Bay View.[19] The line subsided between Napier and Bay View due to the earthquake. Repairs started[20] in March[21] and by June 1931 gangs were working on the line from Napier to Bay View, at Eskdale and at Waikoau,[22] but were stopped in October 1931,[23] a decision confirmed by an unfavourable Railways Board report.[24] In December 1935 the Minister of Public Works, Bob Semple, announced that the new Labour government would complete the line.[25] Work began on 27 April[26] and on 2 July 1936 the Napier–Eskdale Section reopened for goods traffic, worked by PWD. The line was taken over by NZR on Monday 23 August 1937,[4] when passenger services resumed.[27] The first railcar ran from Napier to Wairoa and back on 30 June 1937,[28] but a regular service didn't start until 3 July 1939.[29] The station closed to small goods on 27 February 1966, to passengers on 1 July 1976 and closed completely on 19 June 1983.[27]
Ballast pit
Bay View ballast pit in 1948
A ballast pit was 57 chains (1.1km) south of the station.[4] It supplied beach shingle to repair the Esk Valley section of line in 1924,[30] to improve Hastings yard in 1936[31] and to form part of Kotemaori yard in 1937.[32] In 1937, its gravel was used for about 7 miles (11km) of ballast at Putorino.[5]
Riverslea railway station
Riverslea railway station was open from 17 October 1925 to 3 February 1931, when it closed due to earthquake damage.[27] On 11 January 1927 approval was given for a platform and cart dock for £50 and it still had a shelter shed and platform in 1937, when NZR took over the reopened line, though it was noted that passenger traffic was not permitted.[4] .[33] The building was swept away in the April 1938 flood[34] and a 1939 note recorded "now closed for traffic".[4]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
