Ross Branch

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The Ross Branch, now known as the Hokitika Branch, is a branch line railway that forms part of New Zealand's national rail network. It is located in the Westland District of the South Island's West Coast region and opened to Hokitika in 1893. A further extension to Ross operated from 1909 until 1980.

Contents

[edit] Construction

The first line opened in the region was a bush tramway built to a gauge of 1,219mm (4 feet). It ran from Greymouth south to Paroa and opened in 1867. Ten years later, an extension inland to Kumara was opened, with the Taramakau River crossed by a cage suspended from a wire.[1] Around this time, plans were formulated to replace the tramway with a railway and link Greymouth and Hokitika. Work began in 1879, but the economic conditions of the Long Depression brought construction to a halt the next year with only 5km of track laid. Furthermore, the residents of Kumara, led by future Prime Minister Richard Seddon, were indignant that the railway was going to take a more coastal route than the tramway and thus bypass their town. In 1886, work restarted, and the continued attempts from Kumara residents to have the line's route changed failed to force an alteration to the plans.[2] Work progressed steadily over the next few years, and on 18 December 1893, the complete line from Hokitika to Greymouth opened.[3]

To the south of Hokitika was thickly wooded country, and with the prospect of significant logging traffic, surveys for an extension of the railway were undertaken. These were completed by 1901, and preliminary work was well under way by August 1902. The first section, from Hokitika to Ruatapu, was opened on 9 November 1906, and the full line to Ross was completed on 1 April 1909. [4] Proposals for further southward extension were made but never came to fruition, though a number of bush tramways fanned out from the railway to provide more convenient access to sawmills and other industrial activity. The most notable of these was the one owned by Stuart and Chapman Ltd, which extended south from Ross for about 20km to the Lake Ianthe area.[5]

[edit] Stations

The following stations are or were located on the Ross Branch (in brackets is the distance from Greymouth):

  • Elmer Lane (1km)
  • Karoro (2km)
  • Warburton Street (4km)
  • South Beach (6km)
  • Keith Road (7km)
  • Paroa (9km)
  • Gladstone (11km)
  • Camerons (13km)
  • Kumara Junction (17km)
  • Chesterfied (23km)
  • Awatuna (26km)
  • Arahura (29km)
  • Kaihinui (31km)
  • Houhou (35km)
  • Seaview (37km)
  • Hokitika (38km)
  • Takutai (41km)
  • Mananui (45km)
  • Lake Mahinapua (48km)
  • Ruatapu (50km)
  • Ross (61km)

[edit] Operation

Although sometimes considered to be part of the Midland Line, the Ross Branch was almost wholly operated as a separate route from Greymouth. Locomotive depots were established in both Ross and Hokitika,[6] and when the Otira Tunnel linking the West Coast to Canterbury opened in 1923, the section to Hokitika began to increase in importance. Carriages from the Christchurch-Greymouth express were attached to "mixed" trains that carried both goods and passengers and conveyed to Hokitika[7] while the extension to Ross operated more like a local line with two "mixed" trains daily.[8] The introduction of small Leyland diesel railbuses in August 1936 to convey copies of the Christchurch Press newspaper to the West Coast led to the establishment of a direct service between Christchurch and Hokitika, as well as local services between Hokitika and Greymouth and briefly Reefton.[9] By the early 1940s, the Vulcan railcars had replaced the Leylands and they ran all the way through from Christchurch to Ross, operating twice daily. They were augmented by two daily "mixed" trains to Ross, and these services lasted until 11 September 1967. The railcars operated for a few years more, but as of 9 October 1972, they ceased to run past Greymouth, removing the final passenger service on the line.[10]

In the early years of the line, timber was the dominant traffic from Ross, and in the 1920s, there was some pressure to operate NZR rolling stock on the Stuart and Chapman Ltd tramway, but this came to nothing and the tramway used private rolling stock until its closure in 1959.[11] As the forests were felled, they were not replaced, and agriculture grew in importance, with agricultural lime and fertiliser railed in and livestock railed out; Ross served as the loading point for cattle driven up from southern Westland.[12] By the 1970s, the line beyond Hokitika was operating uneconomically, and closure came in 1980. The combined road/rail bridge south of Hokitika, colloquially known as the "longest xylophone in the world" due to the rattling its planks made, required urgent repairs but it was decided that the cost outweighed the benefits due to the insignificance of the line. A new road-only bridge was built and the line from Hokitika to Ross closed on 24 November 1980.[13] This made the Ross section somewhat remarkable as its passenger service had ceased only eight years earlier; most rural New Zealand branches lost their passenger service at least two or three decades before the entire line was closed.

Today, the Hokitika Branch operates quietly but appears to have a secure future. Its primary customer is the Westland Milk Products plant based in Hokitika, and trains are typically operated by diesel locomotives of the DBR or DC classes. In the days of steam locomotives, members of the A and AB had been based in Ross, and when the line was dieselised in May 1969, DJ class diesels became the primary motive power until the arrival of the DBRs and DCs, though for a few years in the 1970s, all trains had to be operated by DSC class shunter locomotives before the Taramakau River bridge was repaired and upgraded.[14]

[edit] The Hokitika-Ross section today

A few notable bridges, sans rails, still stand on the route to Ross, including an impressive truss bridge just north of Ross itself. The route between Ruatapu and Ross is largely out of sight from the road, but can be driven for much of its length and is used as an accessway by some locals.[15] From Hokitika to Ruatapu, the railway's formation is readily apparent as it is often near the road, and the road has even been diverted to use portions of it. Little else remains of the railway due to the passage of time and influence of human and natural activity, but at the site of Ross's yard, some twisted rail and a loading bank remain.[16]

[edit] References

[edit] External link


New Zealand Railway Lines
Main lines
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North Island:
East Coast Main Trunk - North Island Main Trunk
South Island:
Main North Line and Main South Line, known together as the South Island Main Trunk
Secondary lines
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North Island:
Marton - New Plymouth Line - North Auckland Line - Palmerston North - Gisborne Line - Stratford - Okahukura Line - Wairarapa Line
South Island:
Midland Line - Nelson Section - Otago Central Railway - Stillwater - Westport Line - Waimea Plains Railway

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Branch lines
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Upper North Island
Cambridge - Dargaville - Donnelly's Crossing - Glen Afton - Kinleith - Kumeu-Riverhead - Mount Maunganui - Murupara - Newmarket - Okaihau - Onehunga - Onerahi - Opua - Rotorua - Taneatua - Thames - Waiuku and Mission Bush
Lower North Island
Ahuriri - Castlecliff and Wanganui - Foxton - Greytown - Johnsonville - Melling - Mount Egmont - Moutohora - Ngatapa - Opunake - Raetihi - Taonui - Te Aro - Waitara
Upper South Island
Blackball and Roa - Cape Foulwind - Conns Creek - Eyreton - Fairlie - Little River - Lyttelton - Methven - Mount Somers - Oxford - Rapahoe - Rewanui - Hokitika/Ross - Seddonville - Southbridge - Waiau - Waimate - Whitecliffs
Lower South Island
Bluff - Catlins River - Dunback and Makareao - Fernhill - Hedgehope - Kingston - Kurow - Moeraki - Mossburn - Ngapara and Tokarahi - Outram - Port Chalmers - Roxburgh - Shag Point - Tapanui - Tokanui - Tuatapere - Waikaia - Waikaka - Wairio - Walton Park - Wyndham

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Private lines
Glen Massey Branch - Dunedin Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway - Dun Mountain Railway - Hutt Park Railway - Kaitangata Line - Sanson Tramway - Wellington and Manawatu Railway

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