The Remutaka Rail Trail (spelled ''Rimutaka Rail Trail'' prior to 2017) is a walking and cycling track in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It runs between

Maymorn Maymorn, a rural area of Upper Hutt city in the Wellington region of New Zealand, consists of Rural Hill and Rural Valley Floor zones. The New Zealand census treats Maymorn as part of Te Mārua for statistical purposes. The usual resident 20 ...

and Cross Creek, and follows of the original route of the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...

over the

Remutaka Range The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east ...

between the Mangaroa Valley and the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

, including the world-famous

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 ...

. Parts of the trail are also used by vehicles both from the regional council and from forestry companies with tree plantations in the area; members of the public have limited vehicular access from the

Kaitoke Kaitoke (sometimes called Pakuratahi), part of Upper Hutt City, is a locality in the southern North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the northern end of the Hutt Valley, 45 kilometres northeast of Wellington City and six kilometres from th ...

end to a car park, go-kart track and gun range. Access is also granted by permission to horse riders. Touring coaches have been used upon occasion to convey tourists and other visitors to various parts of the route. The trail is a popular regional recreation facility and is used by more than 30,000 walkers, runners, and cyclists annually. It is part of a network of walking and cycling trails in public parks and reserves in the area. Several forestry roads diverge from the rail trail and are also used for recreational purposes.

History

The Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board assumed ownership of the railway corridor land on the Wellington side of the Remutaka Ranges following closure of the railway line in 1955. They retained the railway bridges so as to maintain vehicular access to the area for forestry purposes. Trees were planted by forestry staff around the summit yard and along the route from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Access was restricted, and it was rare for anyone to be granted permission to enter the area for recreation. The Incline section became the responsibility of the New Zealand Forest Service. All railway-related structures were removed from Cross Creek and Summit in the years following closure of the line. The Cross Creek yard and incline section were gradually reclaimed by nature. The Siberia

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

collapsed during a severe storm in 1967 after its drainage became blocked. A similar problem caused the Summit tunnel to flood. The publication of ''A Line Of Railway'' in 1976 and establishment of Featherston’s Fell Engine Museum helped spur interest in the Incline, prompting the Forest Service to provide permanent access to Cross Creek in 1984. In order to facilitate recreational use of the

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

, it drained Summit Tunnel and cleared the Cross Creek yard and incline formation. A proposal mooted in the mid 1980s for a walkway between Cross Creek and Kaitoke culminated in the opening of the Rimutaka Rail Trail on 1 November 1987, a joint project between the Wellington Regional Council and the Department of Conservation. Shelter sheds were constructed at Cross Creek and Summit, and several picnic areas along the route. A retaining wall and culverts were installed near the entrance to Price's Tunnel in 2009 by the Department of Conservation to remedy a slip that occurred the previous year.

Management of the trail

The Cross Creek to Summit section is managed by the Department of Conservation, Summit to Maymorn by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. After Kaitoke the trail runs through Tunnel Gully Reserve. If traversing the entire length of the rail trail, a trip can be timed to start at Cross Creek and meet a

Wairarapa Connection The Wairarapa Connection is a New Zealand interurban commuter rail service along the Wairarapa Line between Masterton, the largest town in the Wairarapa, and Wellington. It is operated by Wellington suburban operator Transdev (with KiwiRail sub ...

train at Maymorn station.

Cross Creek – Kaitoke

This section can be accessed from either end. At Kaitoke there are signposted directions along Incline Rd off SH 2 to the start of the formation, km along which is a car park. On the Wairarapa side there is a turn-off to the Cross Creek car park from Western Lake Road, about south-west of Featherston. From the Cross Creek car park it is a hour walk to the Cross Creek station yard. About six hours should be allowed to traverse the entire distance between Cross Creek and Kaitoke. The following car parks are available for users of the trail: * Cross Creek: * Kaitoke: Points of interest along this section include: * Cross Creek yard, the site of

Cross Creek railway station Cross Creek railway station was the base of operations for the Rimutaka Incline, a Fell railway over the Remutaka Ranges, and part of the original Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand's N ...

* Price’s Tunnel, long on an S-curve * Horseshoe Gully, the site of the Siberia embankment * Siberia Tunnel, long * Summit Tunnel, long * Summit yard, the site of Summit railway station * Ladle Bend Creek bridge, long, restored by the regional council in 2002 * Pakuratahi bridge, long, rebuilt in 1910 and restored by the regional council in 2001 * Rimutaka Tunnel ventilation shaft, built after it was decided to dieselise the line instead of electrifying it as originally planned, and it was found that there was insufficient natural ventilation to operate diesel locomotives through the tunnel * Pakuratahi Tunnel, long * Munitions Bend bridge, the footbridge here was installed in 2003

Kaitoke – Maymorn

Though this section can be walked or cycled from either end, access is easiest from the Maymorn end of the trail. At the end of Plateau Road is a car park for recreational users of the Tunnel Gully reserve, from which access can be gained to the rail trail. At the intersection of Maymorn Road and Parkes Line Road, near

Maymorn railway station Maymorn railway station is a twin platform, rural request stop railway station serving the small settlement of Maymorn on the Maymorn Plateau, east of Upper Hutt, in New Zealand’s North Island. It is served by the Wairarapa Connection, and ...

and car park, is an access road which joins with the rail trail on the hillside above the

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 ...

portal. From the Kaitoke end, access to the rail trail can be gained either from one of several forestry roads which join up with the Kaitoke – Cross Creek section of the trail, or from a forestry road that connects with Kaitoke Loop Road about km west of Station Drive. The following parking facilities are near the Maymorn end of this section of the trail: * Plateau Road: * Maymorn railway station There are no car parking facilities at the Kaitoke end. Points of interest along this section of the route include: * Mangaroa Tunnel, 152 metres long

Future

In 2011 the

Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust is a non-profit, charitable trust in New Zealand that was established in 2003 with the objective of reinstating an operating heritage railway over the Remutaka Ranges using the original route of the Wa ...

put forward a proposal to reinstate the railway line over the Remutaka Range. It was withdrawn in February 2012. The proposal was to incorporate all of the former railway formation that currently comprises the rail trail. The plan meant laying of new track would occur in the future. The trust has worked on stage one of their plan, which involves the development of facilities at Maymorn. Later stages include the development of alternative facilities for current users of the rail trail prior to the laying of track.

Gallery

File:Rimutaka Incline 03.JPG, Foundations of the Cross Creek locomotive shed File:Rimutaka Incline 04.JPG, Southern portal of Price's Tunnel File:Rimutaka Incline 05.JPG, Northern portal of Price's Tunnel File:Rimutaka Incline 06.JPG, Horseshoe Gully and Siberia embankment washout File:Rimutaka Incline 07.JPG, Southern portal of Summit Tunnel File:Rimutaka Rail Trail- Summit Tunnel.jpg, Bridge and southern portal of Summit Tunnel File:Rimutaka Incline 08.JPG, Northern portal of Summit Tunnel File:Rimutaka Incline 09.JPG, Cutting and southern approach to Summit yard from the tunnel File:Rimutaka Incline 10.jpg, Summit yard File:Rimutaka Incline 11.jpg, Summit shelter shed File:Rimutaka Incline 12.jpg, Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand plaque File:Rimutaka Incline 13.jpg, Locomotive remnants in Summit yards File:Rimutaka Incline 14.jpg, Ash pit in Summit yard File:Rimutaka Incline 15.jpg, Northern approach to Summit yard File:Rimutaka Rail Trail- Siberia Tunnel - 9991928504.jpg, Siberia Tunnel File:Rimutaka Rail Trail- Siberia Tunnel.jpg, Siberia Tunnel

References

* * * * {{cite book , last= Mulligan , first= Barbara , title= New Zealand Rail Trails: A Guide to 42 Ghost Lines , year= 2000 , publisher= Grantham House Publishing , location= Wellington , isbn= 978-1-86934-126-8 , pages= 25, 26

Footnotes

External links

Remutaka Rail Trail
Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Tunnel Gully
Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Remutaka Rail Trail
Department of Conservation. Hiking and tramping tracks in New Zealand Rail trails in New Zealand Protected areas of the Wellington Region