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Opaki Railway Station
Opaki railway station served the small rural village of Opaki, north of Masterton, in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand’s North Island. It was located on the Wairarapa Line between the stations of Masterton (to the south) and Kopuaranga (to the north) with vehicular access from Wingate Road. The station opened to all traffic in 1886 along with Kopuaranga and Mauriceville and remained in use for years, seeing a variety of traffic from mixed, goods, and passenger services as well as both steam and diesel motive power. A modal shift from rail to road was largely behind the station’s demise, leading to its closure to all traffic in 1972. Despite closing before the withdrawal of all passenger and local goods services from the northern section of the Wairarapa Line, it is one of several stations (sites) on this section to have been used for railway purposes after being closed to regular traffic. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) 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 corporatised on 1 April 1982 into the New Zealand Railways Corporation. Originally, railway construction and operation took place under the auspices of the former provincial governments and some private railways, before all of the provincial operations came under the central Public Works Department. The role of operating the rail network was subsequently separated from that of the network's construction. From 1895 to 1993 there was a responsible Minister, the Minister of Railways. He was often also the Minister of Public Works. Apart from four brief experiments with independent boards, NZR remained under direct ministerial control for most of its history. History Originally, New Zea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rimutaka Tunnel
The Remutaka Tunnel (spelled Rimutaka Tunnel before 2017) is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Remutaka Range, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line. The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November 1955, is long. It was the longest tunnel in New Zealand, superseding the Otira Tunnel in the South Island until the completion of the Kaimai Tunnel near Tauranga in 1978. Remutaka remains the longest tunnel in New Zealand with scheduled passenger trains. History The tunnel was built as part of a deviation to replace the costly Rimutaka Incline and its Fell engines. Background The original route between Upper Hutt and Featherston was often the subject of criticism, even before it was built. In 1898 J. H. Dobson completed several surveys on behalf of the Public Works Department into possible alternatives. Conclusions reached in 1899 as a result of these surveys did little more than confirm previous opinions. One promising possibilit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) 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 (carriage, car), with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railway companies, such as the Great Western, termed such vehicles "railmotors" (or "rail motors"). Self-propelled passenger vehicles also capable of hauling a train are, in technical rail usage, more usually called "rail motor coaches" or "motor cars" (not to be confused with the motor cars, otherwise known as automobiles, that operate on roads). The term is sometimes also used as an alternative name for the small types of multiple unit which consist of more than one coach. That is the general usage nowadays in Ireland when referring to any diesel multiple unit (DMU), or in some cases electric multiple unit (EMU). In North America the term "railcar" has a much broader sense and can be used (as an abbr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NZR RM Class (Wairarapa)
The sole surviving Wairarapa railcar, RM 5 (''Mahuhu''), undergoing restoration at the Pahiatua Railcar Society The NZR RM class Wairarapa railcar was a class of railcars on New Zealand's national rail network. They entered service in 1936 (three weeks after the Midland railcars) and were classified RM like all other classes of railcars in New Zealand; they came to be known as the "Wairarapa" class as they were designed to operate over the famous Rimutaka Incline to the Wairarapa region on the Wairarapa Line. They also acquired the nickname of "tin hares" in New Zealand railfan jargon. The first two to be introduced re-used the numbers RM 4 and RM 5 that had previously been used by the withdrawn experimental Model T Ford railcars. The class consisted of six passenger railcars and one passenger-freight railcar. It is often described incorrectly as a class of six railcars. Background The Rimutaka Incline over the Rimutaka Ranges posed a severe time delay to any service ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wairarapa Mail
The ''Wairarapa Mail'' was a passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between Wellington and Woodville, continuing on to Palmerston North as a mixed train. It ran from 1909 until 1948 and its route included the famous and arduous Rimutaka Incline. Introduction From the 1897 completion of the Wairarapa Line until 1908, the route through the Wairarapa was NZR's primary means of accessing Wellington as the western line through the Kapiti Coast and Horowhenua was privately owned by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company. The ''Napier Express'' passenger train operated from Napier to Wellington via the Wairarapa, but on 7 December 1908, the Wellington and Manawatu Railway was purchased, and in early 1909, the ''Napier Express'' was diverted to the quicker western route. Accordingly, the ''Wairarapa Mail'' was introduced to provide Wairarapa residents with connections to Wellington, Manawatu, and the Hawkes Bay. Operation After the WMR was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Island Main Trunk
The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and serves the large cities of Palmerston North and Hamilton. Most of the NIMT is single track with frequent passing loops, but has double track - * between Wellington and Waikanae, except for of single-track through tunnels between North Junction ( from Wellington) and South Junction, ( from Wellington), on the Pukerua Bay to Paekakariki section, * between Hamilton and Te Kauwhata (except for the single-track Waikato River Bridge at Ngāruawāhia), and * between Meremere and Auckland Britomart. Around (approximately 65%) of the line is electrified in three separate sections: one section at 1600 V DC between Wellington and Waikanae, and two sections at 25 kV AC: between Palmerston North and Te Rapa (Hamilton) and between Papakura and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manawatu River, from the river's mouth, and from the end of the Manawatu Gorge, about north of the capital, Wellington. Palmerston North is the country's eighth-largest urban area, with an urban population of The official limits of the city take in rural areas to the south, north-east, north-west and west of the main urban area, extending to the Tararua Ranges; including the town of Ashhurst at the mouth of the Manawatu Gorge, the villages of Bunnythorpe and Longburn in the north and west respectively. The city covers a land area of . The city's location was once little more than a clearing in a forest and occupied by small communities of Māori, who called it ''Papa-i-Oea'', believed to mean "How beautiful it is". In the mid-1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rimutaka Incline
The Rimutaka Incline was a , gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The term "Rimutaka Incline" is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to other parts or all of the closed and deviated section of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Speedy's Crossing, near Featherston. The incline formation is now part of the Remutaka Rail Trail. History Background The construction of a railway from Wellington to Masterton was authorised in the Railways Act passed on 13 September 1871. Julius Vogel, Colonial Treasurer, travelled to England to raise finance for a major public works programme for railway construction. Vogel returned via the United States, where he studied rail systems. After the act of parliament was passed, a survey party set out to make preliminary investigations of possible routes for a railway o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Napier Express
The ''Napier Express'' was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department initially between Napier and Palmerston North and later between Napier and Wellington. It ran from 1891 until 1954. Introduction On 13 October 1874, the first section of the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line opened between Napier and Hastings. Over the following 17 years the line steadily extended into the Hawkes Bay interior, and on 9 March 1891 it opened through the Manawatu Gorge to Palmerston North. Construction of the Wairarapa Line from Wellington was steadily advancing towards its junction with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, at the eastern, Hawkes Bay, end of the Manawatu Gorge, but the only rail access to Wellington at the time was via the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company's line (WMR) up the west coast between Wellington and Longburn, just south of Palmerston North. The Railways Department introduced the ''Napier Express'' as a dedicated pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metro area, and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the world's southernmost capital of a sovereign state. Wellington features a temperate maritime climate, and is the world's windiest city by average wind speed. Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the region in about the 10th century, with initial settlement by Māori iwi such as Rangitāne and Muaūpoko. The disruptions of the Musket Wars led to them being overwhelmed by northern iwi such as Te Āti Awa by the early 19th century. Wellington's current form was originally designed by Captain William Mein Smith, the first Surveyor General for Edward Wakefield's New Zealand Company, in 1840. The Wellington urban area, which only includes urbanised ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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