Contents
Taonui Branch route map [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Map
The Taonui Branch was a minor branch line railway in New Zealand's national network. Located in the Manawatū District of the North Island, it opened in 1879 and operated until 1895.
Taonui Branch route map [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Taonui Branch was a minor branch line railway in New Zealand's national network. Located in the Manawatū District of the North Island, it opened in 1879 and operated until 1895.
In the late 1870s, sleepers were needed for the Foxton & Wanganui Railway (later the Wanganui Branch, the now-closed Foxton Branch, and parts of the North Island Main Trunk railway and Marton - New Plymouth Line). Accordingly, a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) line was constructed from Taonui, near Feilding, in a northeasterly direction towards Colyton through a stand of totara trees. [1] It was laid with light 30lb rails [2] and opened on 17 November 1879 It was overseen by three separate authorities: initially the Railways Commissioners; then the Public Works Department (PWD) from 20 April 1881; and finally the New Zealand Railways Department from the start of July 1882. [3]
Despite being officially designated a branch line, it was little more than an elongated siding. No stations were located on the line and it never carried passengers. [1] In November 1879 it was recommended that the line be worked by the Railways Department and from January 1880 their engine worked the line to the sawmill. In March 1880 it was proposed to work line with horses [2] to save money. [3] By 1882 PWD hired horses to haul empty wagons up the line, which, when loaded, ran down by gravity, using just their brakes, to the main line. An August 1893 report said revenue for the last three months was only five shillings, as the sawmills had all moved. From January to April 1895 the only traffic was 29 wagons of sawn timber, 4 of firewood, and 1 of goods. [2]
The line was not just used to provide the national railways with sleepers; some private timber companies also offered traffic. Henry Adsett had a mill along the line and became a farmer once the trees had been felled. [4] However, this traffic was not significant and closing the line was proposed by 1893. Closure came on 14 August 1895 and the rails were gone by February the next year. [3] Rails of 30, 40 and 52lb were recovered. [2] Closure was authorised by the Taonui Branch Railway Act 1894, which said the line opened in June 1879. [5]
No earthworks at all were required for the line and no traces of the formation survive. [3] The only extant remnant is the station building from the junction in Taonui. It closed in the 1960s and was subsequently relocated to a farmer's paddock near its original location. A few decades later, the farmer donated it to the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society. It has now been restored and included as part of the society's depot in Feilding, and the restoration work earned the society a Certificate of Merit from the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand, awarded on 2 June 2002. [6]
The Foxton Branch was a railway line in New Zealand. It began life as a tramway, reopened as a railway on 27 April 1876, and operated until 18 July 1959. At Himatangi there was a junction with the Sanson Tramway, a line operated by the Manawatu County Council that was never upgraded to the status of a railway.
The Sanson Tramway in the Manawatu region of New Zealand operated from 1885 until 1945. Owned by the Manawatu County Council, it connected with the national railway network at Himatangi on the Foxton Branch. It was never part of the national network.
The Catlins River Branch was a branch line railway that formed part of New Zealand's national rail network. It ran through the Catlins region in southwestern Otago and was built in sections between 1879 and 1915. It closed in 1971 except for the first four kilometres, which remain open as the Finegand Branch. Along the line was the Hunts Road tunnel, the southernmost tunnel in New Zealand.
The Mossburn Branch was a branch line railway in New Zealand from Lumsden on the Kingston Branch to the town of Mossburn in northern Southland. Construction began in 1879, Mossburn was reached in 1887, and the line closed in 1982. It was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department.
The Kurow Branch was part of New Zealand's national rail network. In the North Otago region of the South Island, it was built in the 1870s to open up the land behind Oamaru for development, and closed in 1983.
The Raetihi Branch was a branch line railway in the central North Island of New Zealand. It formed part of New Zealand's national rail network and operated from 1917 until 1968.
The Marton–New Plymouth line (MNPL) is a secondary main line railway in the North Island of New Zealand that links the Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui regions. It branches from the North Island Main Trunk railway (NIMT) at Marton and runs near the South Taranaki Bight of the west coast before turning inland, meeting the Stratford–Okahukura Line (SOL) at Stratford and running to New Plymouth. Construction of the line was completed in 1885, and along with the SOL it provided an alternate route to the NIMT from the SOL's completion in 1933 until the latter was mothballed in 2010. In its early days it was plied by the North Island's first regional express, the New Plymouth Express, but it has been freight only since the cancellation of the last passenger services in 1977.
The Wanganui Branch is a 5.00 km branch line railway in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It links Wanganui with the Marton - New Plymouth Line (MNPL) at Aramoho and has been open since 21 January 1878, although solely for freight traffic since 7 September 1959. Another branch line diverged from the Wanganui Branch near its terminus, the Castlecliff Branch.
The Castlecliff Branch is a branch line railway 5.88 km long in the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is an extension of the Wanganui Branch from Taupo Quay in central Whanganui and follows the Whanganui River to Castlecliff on the South Taranaki Bight of the Tasman Sea. From its opening on 31 October 1885 until 1 February 1956 when the NZR took over, it was owned by the Wanganui Heads Railway Company, later renamed the Castlecliff Railway Company. From 5 September 2006 services on the branch were suspended but the infrastructure remained in place. In 2011 KiwiRail resumed services on part of the line.
Aorangi railway station was a small station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.
Taonui railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk and in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. From 1879 to 1886 it was the junction for the Taonui Branch. A passing loop remains at the station site.
Bunnythorpe railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, serving the village of Bunnythorpe.
Mangaonoho railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. For almost a decade, from 1893 to 1902, Mangaonoho was important as the northern terminus of the NIMT's southern section; even a refreshment room was planned. The route north was delayed by construction of major viaducts, the first being Makōhine. To build Makōhine a railway workshop was set up just north of Mangaonoho. Unlike many other NIMT construction camps, Mangaonoho gradually declined after the line was completed. By 1911 the population was down to 167. Decline continued, with removal of the stockyards in 1973 and closure in 1982. There is now only a single line through the former station site.
The Kapuni Branch, formerly known as the Opunake Branch, is a branch railway in North Island, New Zealand. It opened in 1926, 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 2 km north of the small rural settlement of Te Roti, equidistant between Eltham and Hāwera. 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.
Ohakune railway station is a station on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT), which serves the town of Ohakune in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. It is served by KiwiRail's Northern Explorer long distance train between Wellington and Auckland. It was called Ohakune Junction from 10 August 1926 until Raetihi Branch closed in 1968, to avoid confusion with Ohakune Town station on that branch. It was the second highest operating railway station in New Zealand, after National Park.
Feilding railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line in Feilding, New Zealand. It was opened on 1 October 1876 and closed on 25 June 2012. The station is now used by Feilding Information Centre and an occasional excursion train.
Marton railway station was a station and rail junction on the Marton–New Plymouth Line, opened on 4 February 1878. After the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) made a junction to the south of Marton, a new station was built there and the old station renamed and downgraded, in 1898.
Horopito was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It served the small village of Horopito and lies just to the north of two of the five largest NIMT viaducts. It and Pokaka also lay to the south of Makatote Viaduct, the late completion of which held up opening of the station.
Pokaka was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It served the small village of Pokaka and lay to the south of Makatote Viaduct, the late completion of which held up opening of the station.
Whanganui had three railway stations -