Stillwater - Westport Line
Encyclopedia
Seddonville Branch
The Seddonville Branch, now truncated and operating as the Ngakawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction of the line began in 1874 and it reached its final terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonville in 1895...
, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's national rail network
Rail transport in New Zealand
Rail transport in New Zealand consists of a network of gauge railway lines in both the North and South Islands. Rail services are focused primarily on freight, particularly bulk freight, with limited passenger services on some lines...
. It runs between Stillwater
Stillwater, West Coast
Stillwater is a town in the South Island of New Zealand east of Greymouth on the banks of the Grey River in the Grey District of the West Coast, next to Brunner. There is also Stillwater, Auckland in the North Island....
and Ngakawau via Westport
Westport, New Zealand
-Economy:Economic activity is based around fishing, coal mining and dairy farming. Historically, gold mining was a major industry, and coal mining was much more extensive than today . However, the region still is home to New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation in Stockton...
on the West Coast
West Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
of the South Island
South Island
The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...
. It was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand's history, with its first section opened in 1889 but the full line not completed until 1942.
Construction
A railway link from Greymouth east to BrunnerBrunner, New Zealand
Brunner is a town in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. Together with Taylorville and Dobson to the south-west, it had a population of 672 at the 2006 census. It is 12 kilometres to the east of Greymouth, on the south bank of the Grey River. It is on the Midland Line railway near its...
was opened in 1876, but work on a link from this point to Westport became delayed for ten years by disputes over the best route to link the West Coast with Nelson
Nelson, New Zealand
Nelson is a city on the eastern shores of Tasman Bay, and is the economic and cultural centre of the Nelson-Tasman region. Established in 1841, it is the second oldest settled city in New Zealand and the oldest in the South Island....
and Canterbury
Canterbury, New Zealand
The New Zealand region of Canterbury is mainly composed of the Canterbury Plains and the surrounding mountains. Its main city, Christchurch, hosts the main office of the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Regional Council - called Environment Canterbury - and the University of Canterbury.-...
. Ultimately, the New Zealand Midland Railway Company
New Zealand Midland Railway Company
The New Zealand Midland Railway Company partially constructed the Midland line between Christchurch and Greymouth and the Nelson railway in the South Island...
(NZMRC) was formed to construct the route, and in 1886, work recommenced. The junction of the route to Westport and the Midland Line
Midland Line, New Zealand
The Midland line is a 212 km section of railway between Rolleston and Greymouth in the South Island of New Zealand. The line features five major bridges, five viaducts and 17 tunnels, the longest of which is the Otira tunnel.-Freight services:...
to Canterbury was established just east of Brunner in Stillwater, and the NZMRC put most of its energy into the first portion of the SWL from Stillwater to Reefton
Reefton, New Zealand
Reefton is a small town on New Zealand's West Coast region, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the valley of the Inangahua River. State Highway 7 passes through the southern part of the town, and State Highway 69 runs north to connect to State Highway 6...
. This was due to the comparatively easier terrain faced by the route in the valley of the Grey River, and in 1889, the line was opened to Ngahere
Ngahere
Ngahere is a locality in the Grey District of the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. The 2006 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings gave the population of Ngahere and its surrounding area as 345, an increase of 9.5% or 30 people since the 2001 census.Ngahere is located on the south...
. On 29 February 1892, the NZMRC opened the line all the way to the south bank of the Inangahua River
Inangahua River
The Inangahua River is located in the northwest of New Zealand’s South Island. It is a major tributary of the Buller River, which it joins at the town of Inangahua Junction....
, directly opposite Reefton, and with the Stillwater - Reefton portion complete in their view, they redirected their energy to the Midland route from Stillwater to Otira
Otira
Otira is a small township seven kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the western approach to the pass, a saddle between the Otira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps...
.
In the mid-1890s the NZMRC ran out of funds and, after a dispute in the courts, was taken over by the central government. Work on the SWL recommenced in the 20th century, with the Inangahua River bridged, the present-day Reefton station established, and a further section to Cronadun
Cronadun
Cronadun is a small village located in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated by the Inangahua River, and State Highway 69 and the Stillwater - Westport Line railway pass through the village...
opened in 1908. At the Westport end, construction also commenced, with a 9 km line opened in 1912 from Westport to Te Kuha
Te Kuha
Te Kuha is a small village located to the east of Westport in the Buller District of the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located at the western end of the Lower Buller Gorge, with the Buller River flowing through the village. It was the site of a punt that connected Westport...
at the western end of the Lower Buller Gorge
Buller Gorge
The Buller Gorge is a gorge located in the northwest of the South Island of New Zealand. The Buller River flows through the deep canyon between Murchison and Westport. Land Information New Zealand lists two sections for the gorge, Upper Buller Gorge and Lower Buller Gorge. State Highway 6 runs...
. In 1914, the line from Cronadun reached Inangahua Junction
Inangahua Junction
Inangahua Junction is a small town in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It is located at the confluence of the Inangahua and Buller Rivers, 34 kilometres north of Reefton and 46 kilometres southeast of Westport. Murchison is 52 kilometres to the east. The town of Inangahua is just to the...
, where the NZMRC intended its lines to Westport and Nelson to diverge (in fact, Inangahua remained the probable site for a junction until all work on the Nelson Section
Nelson Section
The Nelson Section was an isolated, gauge, government-owned railway line between Nelson and Glenhope in the Tasman district of New Zealand's South Island. It operated for years between 1876 and 1955...
ceased in the 1930s). However, the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
brought a halt to construction with only the section through the Buller Gorge to complete.
The Buller Gorge posed many difficulties for construction, and little work was done on the line for over two decades. Only after the 1935 election brought about a change in government was there a serious push to complete the line (as well as the similarly postponed Main North Line). The outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
created further delays on construction, but this time, work continued through wartime. The Public Works Department
New Zealand Ministry of Works
The New Zealand Ministry of Works, formerly the Department of Public Works and sometimes referred to as the Public Works Department or PWD, was founded in 1876 and disestablished and privatised in 1988...
was in charge of construction and were able to operate trains the length of the line by July 1942, but ownership of the route was not transferred to the New Zealand Railways Department
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
until 5 December 1943.
Operation
Before the line was completed, mixed trainMixed train
A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...
s operated on sections open for service, and between August 1936 and August 1938 a daily morning railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
service was provided from Hokitika on the Ross Branch to Reefton and return by a diminutive Leyland diesel railcar
NZR RM class (Leyland diesel)
The NZR RM class Leyland diesel railcar or Midland railcar was the first diesel-powered vehicle to enter revenue service on New Zealand's national rail network. Two were built, RM 20 and RM 21, and they commenced service in August 1936 as temporary short-use vehicles that would operate until...
. Once the line was completed Vulcan
NZR RM class (Vulcan)
The NZR RM class Vulcan railcars were operated by the New Zealand Railways Department in the South Island of New Zealand. All New Zealand railcars were classified as RM, and these were known as Vulcan railcars, from the name of the manufacturer, Vulcan Foundry of Britain. - Background :On 9 May...
railcar
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
s operated from Westport to Stillwater, where they connected with services to Christchurch, and a local service ran between Greymouth and Reefton. The poor roads in the region meant there was more demand for a passenger service than on many other rural routes in New Zealand that lost their passenger services by 1940, but road upgrades led to increasing competition from the private car and all passenger services on the line ceased in 1967.
Commodities such as coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
, and cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
have been the mainstay of freight on the line, and in the 1950s, when coal was still shipped from Westport and Greymouth, the occasional closure of one port meant every operational locomotive on the West Coast was pushed into duty to haul coal up or down the SWL to the other port. Today, the coal traffic still exists in substantial qualities, but it is no longer shipped from West Coast ports; it is carried by train to the deep harbour in Lyttelton
Lyttelton, New Zealand
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....
on the east coast.
When the line was completed, UC class steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s were utilised on the line, with the B
NZR B class (1899)
The B class of 1899 was a class of steam locomotives that operated on New Zealand's national rail network. An earlier B class of Double Fairlies had entered service in 1874, but as they had departed from the ownership of the New Zealand Railways by the end of 1896, the B classification was free...
and BA
NZR Ba class
The BA class was a class of steam locomotive built by the New Zealand Railways Department for use on New Zealand's national rail network. The first BA entered service in November 1911, with the last of the 11 class members introduced on 14 May 1913....
classes introduced in 1957. This was the last mainline duty performed by the B and BA locomotives, and as bridges on the SWL were strengthened, they were displaced in the 1960s by the heavier A
NZR A class (1906)
The A class were steam locomotives built in 1906 with a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement for New Zealand's national railway network, and described by some as the most handsome engines to run on New Zealand rails. The class should not be confused with the older and more obscure A class of 1873. They were...
and AB
NZR Ab class
The NZR AB class was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national railway system. Originally an improvement on the 1906 A class, 141 were built between 1915 and 1927 by NZR's Addington Workshops, A & G Price Limited of Thames, New Zealand, and North...
classes. In 1969, the SWL became one of the last lines in New Zealand to be dieselised, with the DJ class
NZR DJ class
The NZR DJ class locomotive is a class of diesel-electric locomotive used in New Zealand. The class were purchased from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries with a modernisation loan from the World Bank to replace steam locomotives in the South Island, where most of the class members worked most of their...
introduced. In the 1980s, DC
NZR DC class
The NZR DC class locomotive is the most common class of locomotive currently in operation on the New Zealand rail network. Primarily employed to haul freight trains operated by KiwiRail, the class is also used for long-distance passenger trains operated by Tranz Scenic and suburban passenger trains...
locomotives were also placed into service on the line.
One notable feature was the necessity to bank
Bank engine
A bank engine or helper engine or pusher engine is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grade...
heavy trains heading south from Reefton to Stillwater due to the difficult uphill grade. This was a common feature during the era of steam locomotives, and although banking was dispensed with on most lines when the conversion to diesel-electric motive power was made, the SWL was initially an exception. Some trains had two DJ class locomotives at each end, but this practice has now come to an end, with trains usually formed and loaded in such a way that banking is unnecessary.