Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches
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The Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches were two connected branch lines in northern Otago, New Zealand that formed part of the national railway system. The Ngapara Branch opened to the public in 1877 and almost all of it was closed in 1959, with the remaining portion closed in 1997. The Tokarahi Branch branched off the Ngapara Branch and operated from 1887 until 1930. There is presently a proposal to re-open the first 4.5km of the Ngapara line.
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[edit] Construction
In the early 1870s, residents inland from Oamaru in the Waiareka Valley started petitioning the local government for a railway connection to the coast to provide easier access to farmland and to export agricultural produce and limestone. The provincial government granted approval for a line to Ngapara in 1872, with construction commencing sometime during the first half of 1874. The Public Works Department began running trains on the line sometime during 1876, but construction was hampered by delays and other problems, including an incident in May 1876 when two died after a contractor's locomotive exploded. It was not until 1 April 1877 that the 24.34 kilometre line from Waiareka Junction on the Main South Line was opened all the way to Ngapara. Interestingly, instead of pointing north towards Oamaru, the junction points faced south. This was due to the fact that north-facing points would have required an excessively sharp curve.
In June 1879, construction of a side branch to Tokarahi began, and through the economic depression of the 1880s, work on building the line was used to provide unemployment relief. The 19.22 kilometre line from Windsor Junction on the Ngapara Branch to Tokarahi opened on 8 July 1887. There were proposals that either of the two branches be extended to join the Kurow Branch, but they were abandoned without any progress made.
[edit] Stations
The following stations were located on the Ngapara Branch (in brackets is the distance from Waiareka Junction):
- Weston (3km)
- Cornacks (5km) - the original Cornacks Loop was 300m closer to Weston
- Lorne (6km) - loop removed in 1949
- Enfield (8km) - originally known as Teaneraki
- Elderslie (12km)
- Windsor Junction (17km) - originally Windsor before the construction of the Tokarahi Branch; remained Windsor Junction even after it ceased to be a junction
- Corriedale (18km)
- Queens Flat (21km)
- Ngapara (24km)
The only intermediate station on the 19km line from Windsor Junction to Tokarahi was Tapui.
[edit] Operation
Once the Tokarahi Branch opened, the two lines employed some inventive working. Each morning, a "mixed" train of both passengers and goods would be assembled at the two termini, and they would meet at Windsor Junction, where they would be re-organised into a passenger train that ran to Oamaru, and a goods train that followed at a slower pace. The reverse of this took place in the afternoon. Although the two branches were set up to open country and provide transport for farmland, the freight on the line was not purely agricultural: a coal mine and, as of the turn of the 20th century, a flour mill were located in Ngapara, and limestone for both building blocks and agricultural uses was loaded from quarries along the line's length. Enfield possessed a ballast pit until the late 1940s or early 1950s and this was used to supply materials for the protection of Oamaru's foreshore.
In the early days, motive power included members of the FA class, which were stationed in Ngapara and were known to haul the passenger train from Windsor Junction to Oamaru prior to 1918. Other classes utilised included the P, T, UB, UC, WD, and WF. Members of the T class are known to have operated to Tokarahi into the 1920s.
In December 1926, the Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches were some of the very first in the country to lose their passenger services when buses were used to replace the trains in an attempt to stem increasing financial losses. The next year, Ngapara's locomotive depot was closed and trains operated from Oamaru. It wasn't much longer until all traffic was ceased entirely on the Tokarahi Branch; it closed on 14 July 1930. This was due at least in part to the decline in wheat farming; at the start of the 20th century, thousands of acres of the crop were grown in the region, but by the 1920s, it was no longer a significant commodity.
After the closure of the Tokarahi Branch, freight trains ran thrice weekly to Ngapara, typically operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. These services departed Oamaru at 7:30am and took over two hours to cover the 24 kilometres to Ngapara, arriving at 9:40am. The return working departed Ngapara at 10:30am, reaching Oamaru at 1:30pm. By 1951, trains were only required to run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, except for services to the limeworks some 4.74 kilometres from the junction with the main line, which provided a few hundred tonnes of freight daily. At this time, just one locomotive was permitted to operate on the line at a time, though whether there was any need to enforce this policy is doubtful due to the low quantity of traffic. In 1958, regular services were entirely cancelled and trains ran only when required, restricted to a speed of just 10km/h due to the poor condition of the track. Financial losses and the prohibitive cost of repairs meant that closure of the line past the limeworks was inevitable and it came in 1959; despite local protests to keep the line open, the final train departed Ngapara behind AB 783 on 31 July 1959. Locomotives of this class and the A had been the mainstay of motive power on the line for its final 25 years. The remainder of the line, known from August 1959 as Taylor's Siding after the business it served, Taylor's Limeworks, continued to provide traffic for some years, but this declined as the 20th century wore on and in 1997, the siding was closed.
[edit] The branch today
Although remnants of closed railway lines deteriorate and even diappear over time, some of the Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches survive remarkably well. The old formation is often very distinct, rails are still embedded into the road surface at Weston, the Enfield station building and goods shed have been moved into a paddock and are in good repair, Corriedale yard is well preserved with the 11 mile peg still in place, and a Tokarahi branch tunnel survives. This tunnel is located on private land nowadays, but with permission, one can easily walk its entire 100 metre length. In Tokarahi, very little remains of what was once the terminus, but in Ngarapa, some rails remain embedded in tar seal where the backshunt crossed the highway, the loading bank and platform edge survive, and the old station sign is affixed to the exterior of the local rugby club's rooms. The old flour mill that once provided traffic for the railway is also still present in the town.
[edit] Re-opening proposal
In August 2006, a proposal was made to re-open the first 4.5km of the branch. Weston is currently under consideration as the location for a cement works, and if chosen, the harbour in either Timaru or Port Chalmers would be used for export purposes. The company intending to establish the cement works has stated a preference to use rail transport between the cement works and harbour and thus would seek to reopen the line to Weston. The former rail corridor is still owned by ONTRACK and the proposal would involve the operation of at least two trains each way daily.
[edit] External link
- Branch lines with modelling potential: Ngapara - contains a map of the line's route and features as well as a brief history.
[edit] References
- ↑ Shipping deal possible
- ↑ Reopening of rail line preferred
- Churchman, Geoffrey B., and Hurst, Tony; The Railways Of New Zealand: A Journey Through History, HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand), 1991 reprint
- Leitch, David, and Scott, Brian; Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, Grantham House, 1998 revised edition
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