The Wanganui Branch is a 5.00 km

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 industri ...

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 ...

in the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

region of New Zealand's

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 ...

. It links

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

with 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) at

Aramoho Aramoho is a settlement on the Whanganui River, in the Whanganui District and Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is an outlying suburb of Whanganui. History The settlement was established on the river in the 1860s, ...

and has been open since 21 January 1878, although solely for freight traffic since 7 September 1959. Another branch line diverged from the Wanganui Branch near its terminus, the

Castlecliff Branch The Castlecliff Branch is a branch line railway 5.88 km long in the Manawatu-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is an extension of the Wanganui Branch from Taupo Quay in central Whanganui and follows the Whanganui River t ...

. The first grant from the

Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014. Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...

in February 2018 included $6 million for the Whanganui rail line.

Construction

The line out of Wanganui was constructed as part of the Wanganui and Foxton Railway. Contracts for construction were let in 1874, but various delays slowed work.David Leitch and Brian Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no ...

, 32. By 1877, it was proceeding apace, and the five kilometres from the central Wanganui station up the western bank of the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

to Aramoho were opened for service on 21 January 1878.''New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas'', fourth edition, edited by John Yonge (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 11. The line southwest to

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 ...

and Foxton subsequently became the MNPL to Marton, 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 ...

railway to

Longburn Longburn (or Karere) is a rural settlement just outside Palmerston North in the Manawatū-Whanganui area of New Zealand. Made up of large dairy processing plants Longburn is often mistaken to be a small township and not seen as a large satellite t ...

, and the

Foxton Branch The Foxton Branch was a railway line in New Zealand. It began life as a tramway, reopened as a railway on 27 April 1876, and operated until 18 July 1959. At Himatangi there was a junction with the Sanson Tramway, a line operated by the Manawa ...

to Foxton. The five kilometres between Wanganui and Aramoho became a branch of the MNPL from 1879 when work began on completing the line north to

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 the

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

region. In about 1987 the final stretch of the branch alongside the Whanganui River was closed, and it was diverted to make an end-on junction with the Castlecliff Branch.

Operation

Passenger services

Passenger services were originally provided by slow

mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. Although common in the early days of railways, by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. Typically, servic ...

s, with a September 1878 timetable allowing for three daily to Palmerston North."Foxton"
''Evening Post'' 16(217) 2 September 1878 2. The opening of the line to New Plymouth in March 1885 led to the introduction of trains between Wanganui and Hawera, with initially two services daily."New Railway Timetable"
''Hawera and Normanby Star'' 6(1172) 9 November 1885 2. On 31 October 1885, the privately owned Castlecliff Branch opened, diverging from the Wanganui Branch near its Taupo Quay terminus. From this date until April 1932, passenger services ran multiple times daily between Taupo Quay and Castlecliff; they became increasingly uneconomic after the local tramway opened a line to Castlecliff and it was this factor that caused their cancellation.Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, ''The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History'' (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 136. In December 1886, the

New Plymouth Express The ''New Plymouth Express'' was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) between Wellington and New Plymouth. It ran from 1886 until 1955 and was sometimes known as the ''New Plymouth Mail'' due to the Ra ...

began operating on the MNPL, bypassing Wanganui. A twice-daily connecting service known as "The Ferry" ran between Aramoho and Wanganui to connect with the Expresses. In Aramoho, it exchanged some carriages with the express so that passengers from Wellington or New Plymouth did not have to change trains to reach Wanganui and vice versa.J. D. Mahoney, ''Kings of the Iron Road: Steam Passenger Trains of New Zealand'' (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press, 1982), 75. By the start of the 20th century, the slow mixed services between Wanganui and Hawera had become the subject of complaints that they did not suit the convenience of the locals for whom they were operated."Railway Timetable"
''Hawera and Normanby Star'' 40(7002) 27 June 1900 2. Residents began agitating for a dedicated passenger train to run daily from Wanganui through Hawera to New Plymouth and return.John Gibson
"Railway Timetable"
''Hawera and Normanby Star'' 46(7757) 1 August 1903 2. It was not until 1926 that such a service was introduced, the

Taranaki Flyer The ''Taranaki Flyer'' was the name given to a passenger train that was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Whanganui and New Plymouth from 1926 to 1965. Introduction The primary passenger service on the Marton–New Plym ...

. It took approximately 4.5 hours to complete its journey, a considerable improvement on mixed trains.Churchman and Hurst, ''The Railways of New Zealand'', 133. On 31 October 1955, the Flyer ran for the last time and was replaced by a

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 drive ...

service operated by 88 seater and

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

RM class railcars. The railcars did not last long, as declining patronage resulted in their cancellation from 7 February 1959.Tony Hurst, ''Farewell to Steam: Four Decades of Change on New Zealand Railways'' (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1995), 74. From this point, regular passenger services ceased to operate on the Wanganui Branch. Wanganui passengers instead had to board mainline trains in Aramoho; this arrangement lasted until 30 July 1977, when the final passenger service through Aramoho was cancelled. The only passenger services on the branch since 1959 have been infrequent excursions, such as those operated by

Steam Incorporated Steam Incorporated, often abbreviated to Steam Inc., is a railway heritage and preservation society based at the Paekākāriki railway station, Paekākāriki at the southern end of the Kapiti Coast, approximately 50 minutes north of Wellington on ...

and the

New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society The New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Inc is a society of railway enthusiasts, based in Wellington. It was incorporated in 1958. The society archives are in the ''Thomas McGavin Building'' on Ava railway station's former goods yard in t ...

.David Leitch, ''Steam, Steel and Splendour'' (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1994), 74. The

SteamRail Wanganui SteamRail Wanganui is a railway preservation society based in Wanganui, New Zealand. It owns heritage railway locomotives, rolling stock, and structures in the Wanganui area. It also operates occasional excursions in conjunction with other societ ...

heritage organisation is based at the Wanganui terminus and it operates charter excursions from this depot as well as providing facilities for visiting excursions to replenish fuel supplies.

Freight services

Freight traffic has always played a prominent role on the line, particularly when Wanganui had an active port. In 1878, the fact that one more train ran daily between Wanganui and Palmerston North than between Foxton and Palmerston North led Foxton business interests to fear that the more regular service would boost Wanganui's trade at the expense of Foxton. Trains currently operate less frequently, but are capable of carrying significantly more tonnage than 19th century services. One freight train arrives at lunchtime every weekday from

, departing later in the afternoon. An additional morning service runs if required, including on weekends.New Zealand Train Timetable Guide
#61, effective 17 June 2007, accessed 1 December 2007.

Motive power

Motive power is currently provided by

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s, such as the DC and DX classes. In the era of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

locomotives such as the W^B were based in Wanganui and worked the Branch.Mahoney, ''Kings of the Iron Road'', 72. They were largely replaced by A^B class

tender locomotive A tender or coal-car (US only) is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing its fuel (wood, coal, oil or torrefied biomass) and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so ...

s in the mid-1920s, but W^W class tank locomotives continued to shunt industrial sidings as late as the 1960s.Hurst, ''Farewell to Steam'', 37. From the mid-1950s, the dominant locomotive classes in the Wanganui area were the K and K^A, both of which saw use on the Branch. By the end of 1966, the branch was completely dieselised. Locomotives such as the DA class worked Wanganui trains until the introduction of the classes currently in use.

References

External links

SteamRail Wanganui
based at the branch's terminus. {{NZR Lines Railway lines in New Zealand Rail transport in Manawatū-Whanganui Whanganui 1878 in New Zealand