Koranui Incline
The Koranui Incline was an inclined tramway on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand that, for four years from late 1882 to the end of 1886, brought coal from a mine high on Mt Frederick down to a railway line near sea level. It was first powered by a single engine that moved the whole 3.6 kilometre (2.2 mile) length of ropeway, but was later modified into a series of five self-acting inclines. History The Koranui Incline was located in the Waimangaroa valley on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It ran from the Koranui Coal Mining Company’s mine on the southern slopes of Mt Frederick and descended to the north bank of the Waimangaroa River – with a total fall of and a length of . A bridge across the river connected the incline to the Conns Creek branch railway that followed the south bank of the river to the main Westport to Seddonville line. The more famous Denniston Incline, on the other side of the river and further up the valley from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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West Coast, New Zealand
The West Coast ( mi, Te Tai Poutini, lit=The Coast of Poutini, the Taniwha) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island that is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the Territorial authorities of New Zealand, territorial authorities of Buller District, Grey District and Westland District. The principal towns are Westport, New Zealand, Westport, Greymouth and Hokitika. The region, one of the more remote areas of the country, is also the most sparsely populated. With a population of just 32,000 people, Te Tai Poutini is the least populous region in New Zealand, and it is the only region where the population is declining. The region has a rich and important history. The land itself is ancient, stretching back to the Carboniferous period; this is evident by the amount of carboniferous materials naturally found there, especially coal. First settled by Ngāi Tahu, Kāi T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Buller District
Buller District is one of 53 districts of New Zealand, and is within the West Coast Region. It covers Westport, Karamea, Reefton and Inangahua Junction. Buller District's overall land area is . The district is administered by the Buller District Council with the seat in Westport, in which 45% of the district's population live. History It is understood by the carbon dating of Umu (ovens) that the Maori people settled in this region some 700 years ago. The district takes its name from the Buller River, itself named for Charles Buller, a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) and director of the New Zealand Company, a UK-based company established in the early 19th century with a royal charter supporting colonisation efforts of New Zealand. During the period 1853 to 1876, the current area of Buller District was administered as part of Nelson Province. With the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, much of the current area of Buller District w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers , making it the world's 12th-largest island. At low altitude, it has an oceanic climate. The South Island is shaped by the Southern Alps which run along it from north to south. They include New Zealand's highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook at . The high Kaikōura Ranges lie to the northeast. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines such as Fiordland, a very high proportion of native bush and national parks, and the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. The main centres are Christchurch and Dunedin. The economy relies on agriculture and fishing, tourism, and general manufacturing and services. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waimangaroa River
The Waimangaroa River is located on the West Coast of New Zealand. The river passes through tussock, scrub and forested areas before draining into the Karamea Bight in the Tasman Sea. It passes through the town of Waimangaroa and is crossed by the Ngakawau Branch railway, with the rail bridge brought into service in 1877. That year, the Conns Creek Branch opened, a sub-branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ... that closely followed the southern bank of the river east from Waimangaroa to the foot of the Denniston Incline. It closed in 1967. Buller District Rivers of the West Coast, New Zealand Rivers of New Zealand {{WestCoastNZ-river-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Conns Creek Branch
The Conns Creek Branch was a 2.7 kilometre (1.7 mile) branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It diverged from the Seddonville Branch at Waimangaroa and followed the southern bank of the Waimangaroa River to the line's terminus at Conns Creek at the foot of the Denniston Incline. The line operated from 1877 until 1967 and existed for the sole purpose of conveying coal from mines to the port of Westport. Construction Construction of the Seddonville Branch railway from Westport to Seddonville had begun in 1874. In September 1875 the Wellington Coal Mining Company called for tenders for a private line from a junction with the Seddonville branch at Waimangaroa to a site 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) up the Waimangaroa River adjacent to the company's mine. The Seddonville Branch was completed as far as Waimangaroa on 5 August 1876 and the first portion of the Conns Creek Branch - as far as the Wellington Mine - opened in 1877. A bridge across the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seddonville Branch
The Seddonville Branch, later truncated as the Ngākawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction began in 1874 and it reached its terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonville in 1895. In 1981 it was closed past Ngākawau and effectively became an extension of the Stillwater–Westport Line, since formalised as the Stillwater–Ngākawau Line. Construction The branch was built for transporting coal from mines to the harbour at Westport. Unlike most other railways of the era, there was no expectation that it would open up country for settlement and farming, as the terrain was mountainous and not suited to settlements of significant size. Coalfield surveys had identified significant deposits of bituminous coal on the Mount Rochfort and Stockton plateaus high above the coastal plain and outcrops of sub-bituminous coal had been located at low level close to the rivers at Waimangaroa and Ngākawau. However ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Denniston Incline
Denniston is a small settlement, 15 kilometres (9 miles) east of Westport, on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the Denniston Plateau, above sea level in the Papahaua Ranges. It is named for R. B. Denniston, manager of the first major mine to open on the West Coast in the 1870s. During the first few decades of the 20th century, up to 1400 people lived in the townships on the Denniston Plateau to service the large coal mines there. Coal was transported in railway wagons from the plateau via the Denniston Incline to Conns Creek, where steam locomotives of New Zealand Railways took coal trains to the port of Westport. The Denniston Incline closed in 1967. The plateau now has a population of fewer than 10 people, and virtually all the buildings and structures are gone, although many historical relics remain – scattered throughout the plateau and incline area amongst the scrub vegetation. The open-cast Escarpment Mine Project was establish ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Rochfort
John Rochfort (21 May 1832 – 8 March 1893) was a New Zealand surveyor and engineer. Early life John Rochfort was born in London, England, the youngest son of Frank senior, a goldsmith, silversmith and jeweller, and Sarah (née Button). He was one of nine children born between 1818 and 1837. His older brother James, born in 1830, was a qualified architect and surveyor who was employed for seven years at a large practice in London under an architect who was also the district surveyor of St James’s, Westminster. John followed James into the profession, and by the age of nineteen when he first left for New Zealand he was qualified to work as a surveyor and draughtsman. Visit to New Zealand John and James Rochfort arrived in New Zealand in February 1852 on the ''Marmora''. The ''Marmora'' stopped at Lyttelton for ten days and then took them to Wellington. When they disembarked, James realised that he wouldn’t find work as an architect so departed for Sydney. John found wor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Union Company
Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited was once the biggest shipping line in the southern hemisphere and New Zealand's largest private-sector employer. It was incorporated by James Mills in Dunedin in 1875 with the backing of a Scottish shipbuilder, Peter Denny. Bought by shipping giant P&O around the time of World War I it was sold in 1972 to an Australasian consortium and closed at the end of the twentieth century. History James Mills James Mills had worked for Johnny Jones and his Harbour Steam Company. After Jones’ death in 1869 Mills tried twice to float a Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Limited without attracting enough interest from local investors but in 1875 he found backing from Scottish shipbuilder Peter Denny in return for Union Steam Ship orders for Denny's Dumbarton shipyard. The Denny-built ''Hawea'' and ''Taupo'', both then large by local standards, arrived in mid 1875 and entered service. Union Steam Ship took over the Harbour Steam Com ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Denniston, New Zealand
Denniston is a small settlement, 15 kilometres (9 miles) east of Westport, on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the Denniston Plateau, above sea level in the Papahaua Ranges. It is named for R. B. Denniston, manager of the first major mine to open on the West Coast in the 1870s. During the first few decades of the 20th century, up to 1400 people lived in the townships on the Denniston Plateau to service the large coal mines there. Coal was transported in railway wagons from the plateau via the Denniston Incline to Conns Creek, where steam locomotives of New Zealand Railways took coal trains to the port of Westport. The Denniston Incline closed in 1967. The plateau now has a population of fewer than 10 people, and virtually all the buildings and structures are gone, although many historical relics remain – scattered throughout the plateau and incline area amongst the scrub vegetation. The open-cast Escarpment Mine Project was established ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rockies Incline
The Rockies Incline was an inclined tramway on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand that for ten years from 1925 to 1935 brought coal from the Westport Main Coal Company’s mine on the Millerton-Stockton plateau down to the Westport to Seddonville railway line near sea level. History The Rockies Incline was located about south of Granity on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It ran from the Westport Main Coal Company’s Westport Main Mine on a flat-topped ridge at the western edge of the Millerton-Stockton plateau and descended a steep escarpment to the coastal plain near sea level – with a total fall of about and a length of about . The mine was commonly known as Rockies Mine, giving its name to the incline. The Westport Main Mine began production just as underground coal mining on the Millerton-Stockton plateau was reaching its peak, in the mid-1920s. Production of coal at Westport Main began in 1925 and largely ended in 1932, with th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Millerton Incline
Millerton is a small settlement in the northwestern South Island of New Zealand in the West Coast region. It is in the Papahaua Ranges, around 33 kilometres by road north of Westport, via SH67 from Westport to Karamea. The history of Millerton bears some resemblance to that of Denniston, being a town that lived from and for the coal that was mined in the Ranges. Millerton has a population of approx 30-40. It was classified like Denniston as a ghost town in the 1970s but has had a resident population for several decades. It is possibly New Zealand's only populated hilltop township. Mining and incline Despite its elevation of 300 metres being considerably lower than that of Denniston (600 metres), the steep grade between the coastline and Millerton still meant that the coal was difficult to get down from the hilltop to the coastal railway near sea level. The Westport Coal Company built the Millerton Incline in 1891 and the Millerton Mine began production in 1896. Mining ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |