Taieri Gorge Railway

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Overview
Taieri Gorge Railway

Reporting marks:	TGR
Locale:	Taieri to Middlemarch
Dates of operation:	1991—present
Track gauge:	1067mm (narrow gauge)
Headquarters:	Dunedin

"TGR" redirects here. For the Tasmanian railway, see Tasmanian Government Railways.

The Taieri Gorge Railway is based at Dunedin Railway Station in the South Island of New Zealand.

The railway is owned by a Dunedin City Council-based trust. It is New Zealand's longest tourist railway and stretches along the former Otago Central Railway from the 4 km peg on ONTRACK's Taieri Branch, 18 km west of Dunedin, to Middlemarch, a distance of some 60 kilometres. Between Dunedin and the start of the line its trains operate on ONTRACK's Main South Line via a running rights agreement.

The railway line travels through spectacular scenery along the banks of the Taieri River, through numerous tunnels and climbing along the Taieri Gorge to the Strath Taieri. The "Taieri Gorge Limited" tourist train operates daily to Pukerangi and on summer Sundays to Middlemarch.

The railway uses five former New Zealand Railways DJ class locomotives and one DE class locomotive.

[edit] History

The Otago Excursion Train Trust was formed in 1978 to operate excursions on the Otago Central Railway line. In 1990 the line was closed by the New Zealand Railways Corporation. The Trust then stepped in, in partnership with Dunedin City Council, to form the Taieri Gorge Railway Limited to purchase the line as far as Middlemarch, along with some locomotives to operate trains. The line beyond Middlemarch was lifted during 1991. The trackbed was handed over to the Department of Conservation in 1993 and is now the Otago Central Rail Trail, a major tourist attraction in the area.

Two DJ class locomotives in service for Taieri Gorge Railway at Port Chalmers

[edit] Topography

The branch originally began at Wingatui, a station on the Main South Line south of Dunedin. After the branch line closed, the first four km of track were retained in the national railway network as a service line to local industries. The Taieri Gorge Railway begins at the 4 km peg and shortly thereafter passes around a spectacular horseshoe curve at the foot of the Salisbury bank and begins a climb at 1 in 50 to the summit at 145 m, the entrance to the Taieri Gorge. The railway remains in the gorge for 35 km, crossing 16 major bridges with a total length of 1020 m and passing through 10 tunnels with a total length of 1491 m. In the second half of the gorge section the line climbs steadily to exit the gorge at Pukerangi (45 km, 254 m altitude) and then descends into the Taieri Plains before reaching Middlemarch at 64 km. Features of interest are the many high viaducts, the biggest, at 13 km, being also the highest (47 m) and longest (198 m). It was recognised from the outset that the scenery of the Taieri Gorge section was a major attraction and this provided the impetus for the formation of the heritage railway company.