The Stratford–Okahukura Line (SOL) is a secondary

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line 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 ...

, between the

Marton - New Plymouth Line Marton may refer to: Places England * Marton, Blackpool, district of Blackpool, Lancashire * Marton, Bridlington, area of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire * Marton, Cheshire, village and civil parish in Cheshire * Marton, Cumbria, villa ...

(MNPL) and the

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 ser ...

(NIMT) Railway, with 15 intermediate stations. It is long through difficult country, with 24 tunnels, 91 bridges and a number of sections of 1 in 50 (2 %)

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

. Near Okahukura there is an unusual combined road-rail bridge over the Ongarue River, with the one-lane road carriageway below the single rail track. The line is not currently in service for rail traffic and is under a 30-year lease for a tourist venture. In July 2019 KiwiRail's CEO stated that reopening the line was a priority. Minister of Transport Michael Wood announced the government's 10-year plan for rail investment on 6 May 2021, which specifically stated that plans could include re-opening the Stratford to Okahukura line.

Construction

Original construction

Public_Works_map_showing_the_railways_North_Island_of_New_Zealand_1901

The line from Stratford to Whangamōmona (of about ) was authorised by the Railways Authorisation Act, 1900 The Hon

William Hall-Jones Sir William Hall-Jones (16 January 1851 – 19 June 1936) was the 16th prime minister of New Zealand from June 1906 until August 1906. Hall-Jones entered parliament in 1890, later becoming a member of the Liberal Party. He was interim prime m ...

turned the first sod of the Stratford-Okahukura Railway at Stratford on 28 March 1901. Okahukura, south of Ongarue, was to be the junction point with the North Island Main Trunk Line. Construction took nearly 32 years, and the western part, from Stratford, was operated as the

Toko Toko is a small rural settlement 10 kilometres east of Stratford, New Zealand, at the intersection of East Road ( State Highway 43) and Toko Road. It is located on a railway, the Stratford–Okahukura Line, the western portion of which was o ...

Branch from 9 August 1902. The SOL was nearly complete before the onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, so work was not halted, unlike on many public works projects such as the

East Coast Main Trunk Railway The East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) is a railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, originally running between Hamilton and Taneatua via Tauranga, connecting the Waikato with the Bay of Plenty. The ECMT now runs between Hamilton and Kawerau ...

beyond Taneatua. The section from Okahukura to Matiere was officially opened on Tuesday 23 May 1922, although the bridges to the west of Tuhua were temporary rather than the final and stronger structures. At the opening ceremony, the Minister for Public Works, the Hon

Gordon Coates Joseph Gordon Coates (3 February 1878 – 27 May 1943) served as the 21st prime minister of New Zealand from 1925 to 1928. He was the third successive Reform prime minister since 1912. Born in rural Northland, Coates grew up on a cattle run a ...

(subsequently Prime Minister, 1925-1928) said the cost of building that segment of the line was £33,000 per mile. At the same time, a separate report indicates that the track had been laid from Stratford for up to Tahora, leaving a gap between Tahora and Matiere. The Mayor of Stratford celebrated the piercing of the last tunnel ( No.4 Mangatiti) on 2 August 1932 and, on 7 November 1932, the last spike was driven at Heao by the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. George Forbes, with Rt. Hon.

driving the first train. Goods traffic started on 12 December 1932, though the SOL was not handed over by the

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

to the

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 ...

until 3 September 1933.

Signalling

The line was unsignalled and worked under "open section working" when two trains collided at the northern portal to the Whangamomona Tunnel on 21 December 1934; Train No 521 was due to cross with No 556 at Pohokura but departed without the guard as the engine crew claimed they saw his arm horizontal at the rear of the train indicating the train was to proceed; the crews were fortunate that they did not collide in the tunnel. Although generally understood to have trains operating, especially in the later years, on a warrant control basis, mention is made in the 1939 Railways Report to Parliament of the completion of automatic single-line signalling on the line. The final section was from Whangamōmona to Okahukura, in those days a distance of and consistent with modern distance measurements.

1950s upgrades and maintenance

Upgrades and maintenance to the track were undertaken in 1959–60. Some of the track was replaced with 75 lbs/yd rail that at some point was made into a continuously welded rail.https://taic.org.nz/sites/default/files/inquiry/documents/07-115%20V%20FINAL.pdf See Page 2

Crossing loops

Crossing loops were established at Te Wera, Whangamōmona, Tangarakau, and Ōhura. Three stations (Te Wera, Whangamōmona, and Ōhura) had stationmasters. The short loops meant that long trains had to be split to fit into the loop and siding.

Operation

Passenger services

The SOL was initially served by the New Plymouth Night Express between

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

and

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and by Stratford–

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kuiti and 55 km west of ...

passenger trains. When the line opened, it was reported that overnight express trains between Auckland and New Plymouth could now complete the journey in less than 12 hours. On Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays trains left Auckland at 7pm, Taumarunui at 12.45am and reached New Plymouth at 6.1am. The trains returned on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving New Plymouth at 7.10pm, Stratford 8.31pm and arriving at Auckland at 7.6am. Whangamōmona had refreshment rooms from 1933 to 1965. Fiat or "88 seater" railcars replaced the Auckland-New Plymouth express trains from 1956, but were cut back to New Plymouth-Taumarunui in 1971. Mixed trains were withdrawn in 1975. Scheduled passenger trains ceased in January 1983 as roads in the rugged and isolated northern Taranaki were improved and passengers switched to cars, though the line was not closed to all passenger trains until January 2007, after an excursion to Whangamōmona's "Republic Day" celebrations. This terminated the operation of excursions, but efforts were made to have the line upgraded to a standard where excursions will again be possible. A working party of stakeholders was formed in June 2007 to investigate the current state of the line and to develop a case for upgrading it. Considerable maintenance was required to bring the line up to safety standards required for passenger trains at a cost of approximately

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

6 million to complete, according to Stratford Mayor Brian Jeffares.

Freight services

Most freight was for the rural hinterland, but along the SOL there were coal mines near Ōhura and Tangarakau, and also sawmills. One freight train operated each weeknight each way along the line carrying freight between

and

, interchanging at Taumarunui. In recent years the deferred maintenance issues meant these services operated under heavy speed restrictions. The SOL was upgraded in 1959–60, and a deviation and a new station building built at Stratford. In conjunction with the Marton - New Plymouth Line the SOL also provided an alternative route when the North Island Main Trunk was closed between Marton and Taumarunui. In 1953 the

Tangiwai disaster The Tangiwai disaster occurred at 10:21 p.m. on 24 December 1953 when a railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapsed beneath an express passenger train at Tangiwai, North Island, New Zealand. The locomotive and the first six carriage ...

closed the NIMT for a period.

Mothballing

The SOL suffered from a lack of investment and maintenance, leading to a number of speed restrictions being put in place. In July 2002 a fatal derailment occurred at Te Wera, and a number of other incidents also plagued operations. In November 2009 a serious partial derailment of a wagon occurred, damaging some 8 km of line preventing use by trains without repairs.

KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...

describes the damage as covering of track. Following this KiwiRail decided to mothball the line, with rail freight now being routed through Palmerston North. Ideas for preserving the line emerged, with hopes that customers and investment could be found to return the line to full service. Adventure tourism operator Forgotten World Adventures reached an agreement with KiwiRail in 2012 to lease the line for their new venture using modified petrol rail carts for tourists to travel between the line's termini at Stratford and Okahukura, via a number of trip options, starting from Labour Weekend 2012. The 30-year lease makes the company responsible for the line's maintenance and access control but allows KiwiRail to use the line in emergencies and to resume control of the line depending on future circumstances and opportunities. The rail bridge over State Highway 4 at Okahukura has been removed making the track between the easternmost tunnel and Okahukura unusable. In 2019 the

Rail & Maritime Transport Union The Rail & Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) is a trade union in New Zealand. It represents transport workers in all aspects of the transport industry; rail, road and ports. The RMTU is affiliated with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the ...

revealed that a review of the line is being undertaken to assess the viability of reopening for "Fonterra and log traffic." In July KiwiRail CEO Greg Miller stated that a $40 million project to reopen the line was a priority. Minister of Transport Michael Wood announced the government's 10-year plan for rail investment on 6 May 2021. Some specific plans could include re-opening the Stratford to Okahukura line.

References

External links

''The Snail Rail, New Plymouth's first railway''''Coal may save railway line'' (April 2011)''Private operator on the line''''Slide show of the line''''News item on the initiative''
*
Journey to New Zealand's forgotten world
' (May 2015)

* ttps://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1923/I-II/1169 1923 photos of road/rail bridge under constructionbr>1927 photo of PWD train at Ōhura1929 photos of tunnel, pack horses and construction camp1931 photo of No.4 tunnel portal during construction1951 photo of coal wagons at Waitawhena opencast mine, near Ohura1951 photo of goods train between Douglas and Whangamomona