The Wairarapa, a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest. It is named after its largest lake, Lake Wairarapa.
Railway preservation in New Zealand is the preservation of historically significant facets of New Zealand's rail transport history. The earliest recorded preservation attempt took place in 1925, although the movement itself did not start properly until 1960. New Zealand appears to have a higher proportion of organized railway enthusiasts per 1,000 of population than any other part of the world.
Carterton is a small town in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and the seat of the Carterton District. It lies in a farming area of the Wairarapa in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 14 km (8.7 mi) southwest of Masterton and 80 km (50 mi) northeast of Wellington. The town has a population of 5,930, out of a total district population of 10,250.
Masterton is a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a region separated from Wellington by the Rimutaka ranges. It stands on the Waipoua stream between the Ruamahunga and Waingawa Rivers – 100 kilometres north-east of Wellington and 39.4 kilometres south of Eketahuna.
Greytown, population 2,202, is a rural town in the centre of the Wairarapa region of New Zealand, in the lower North Island. It is 80 km north-east of Wellington and 25 kilometres southwest of Masterton, on State Highway 2. It was awarded the title of New Zealand's Most Beautiful Small Town 2017.
The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum is a heritage railway and recreated historic village in the Tinwald Domain, Tinwald, New Zealand. The railway runs on approximately three kilometres of rural railway line that was once part of the Mount Somers Branch. The village and railway are open regularly to the public. The railway utilises preserved and restored locomotives and rolling stock once used on New Zealand's national railway network, while the village shows visitors how life was lived in New Zealand's pioneering past.
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for 172 kilometres (107 mi), connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton.
The Pahiatua Railcar Society (PRS) is a society located in Pahiatua, New Zealand, dedicated to the restoration of railcars and other locomotives and rolling stock formerly operated by the New Zealand Railways Department. It is notable for possessing the sole remaining examples of the RM class 88 seater and Wairarapa railcars.
Ponatahi is a community in the South Wairarapa District of New Zealand's North Island. It is located near the Ruamahanga River south-southeast of Carterton and north east of Greytown. Nearby smaller settlements include Longbush to the south and Gladstone to the east.
The Goldfields Railway is a heritage railway that operates between Waihi and Waikino in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It operates over a section of track that was part of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway until the Kaimai Tunnel deviation made it redundant in 1978. The Goldfields Railway was formed in 1980 as the Goldfields Steam Train Society to retain a portion of the old mainline and switched to its current name in the mid-nineties.
Carterton railway station is a suburban railway station serving Carterton, New Zealand. The station is located on the Wairarapa Line, 76.6 km (47.6 mi) north of Wellington and 14.4 km (8.9 mi) south of Masterton. The Wairarapa Connection serves the station several times daily with services to Wellington and Masterton. The station has a single seven-car side platform.
Woodside railway station is a rural railway station located in the Wairarapa, 5 km west of and serving Greytown, New Zealand. The station is located on the Wairarapa Line, 65.1 km (40.5 mi) north of Wellington and 25.9 km (16.1 mi) south of Masterton. The Wairarapa Connection serves the station several times daily with services to Wellington and Masterton.
The Greytown Branch was a five-kilometre 3 ft 6 in branch line railway off the Wairarapa Line at Woodside in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand's North Island. It followed an almost straight course over flat terrain. There were no intermediate stations.
Greytown railway station was the terminus of the Greytown Branch railway, which connected the Wairarapa town of Greytown in New Zealand’s North Island to Woodside on the Wairarapa Line.
The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust is a non-profit, charitable trust in New Zealand that was established in 2003 with the objective of reinstating an operating heritage railway over the Remutaka Ranges using the original route of the Wairarapa Line between Maymorn and Featherston, including the world-famous Rimutaka Incline.
Cross Creek railway station was the base of operations for the Rimutaka Incline, a Fell railway over the Remutaka Ranges, and part of the original Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand's North Island. The station was between Pigeon Bush and Summit stations on the Wairarapa Line. The station was bypassed when the Rimutaka Tunnel was opened.
Charles Rooking Carter was a New Zealand contractor, politician, and philanthropist from England.
Dalefield railway station was a station on the Wairarapa Line that served the small rural community of Dalefield, just south of Carterton in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand’s North Island. It survived for just over a century from when the line opened in 1880 until it was closed in 1981.
Clareville railway station was a flag station serving the small settlement of Clareville, north of Carterton in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand's North Island. It survived for nine decades from when it opened in 1880 until closure to all traffic in 1970.
