Stratford - Okahukura Line
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The Stratford-Okahukura Line is a secondary railway line (not a branch line) between Stratford on the Marton - New Plymouth Line and Okahukura on the North Island Main Trunk Railway in the North Island of New Zealand, with 15 intermediate stations. The line is 144 km (89 miles) long through difficult country, with 24 tunnels and a number of sections of 1 in 50 grade. Near Okahukara there is an unusual combined road-rail bridge, with the one-lane road bridge below the rail track.
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[edit] Construction
The line was authorised in 1900, and the Hon William Hall-Jones turned the first sod of the proposed Stratford-Kawakawa Railway at Stratford on 28 March 1901. Kawakawa, south of Ongarue, was initially to be the junction point on the North Island Main Trunk Line. Construction took nearly 32 years, and the western part from Stratford was operated as the Toko Branch Line to Toko from 1902. The line was nearly completed before the onset of the Great Depression, so work was not halted (unlike many public works projects, such as the East Coast Main Trunk Railway beyond Taneatua).
On 7 November 1932 the ceremony of driving the last spike was done at Heao by the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. Gordon Coates, though the line was not handed over from the New Zealand Ministry of Works to the New Zealand Railways Department until 4 September 1933.
[edit] Operation
[edit] Passenger services
The line initially provided passenger services, including the New Plymouth Night Express between New Plymouth and Auckland and Stratford–Taumarunui passenger services. The last passenger services ceased in January 1983 as roads in the rugged and isolated northern Taranaki were improved and former patrons of the railway switched to cars, though the line was not formally closed to passenger trains until January 2007. This terminated the occasional operation of excursion services, though efforts are currently underway to have the line upgraded to a standard where excursions will again be permissible.[1]
[edit] Freight services
Most freight was for the rural hinterland, but there were coal mines near two stations, Ohura and Tangarakau, and also sawmills along the line. Presently, one freight service operates weekdays each way between New Plymouth and Auckland. These services pass over the line during the night.[2]
The line was upgraded in 1959-60, and a new station built at Stratford. In conjunction with the Msrton - New Plymouth Line, it provides a valuable alternative route between Auckland and Wellington when the North Island Main Trunk is closed.
[edit] References
- ^ Lyn Humphreys, "Train ban may derail $100 million film", Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 2007
- ^ Toll Rail timetable
[edit] Further Reading
The Stratford-Okahukura Line: Fifty Years of Service by R. B. Alexander (First Edition 1961; Second Edition, revised and enlarged 1983; New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society Inc).
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Main lines
North Island:
South Island:
Main North Line and Main South Line, known together as the South Island Main Trunk
Secondary lines
North Island:
Marton - New Plymouth Line • North Auckland Line • Palmerston North - Gisborne Line • Stratford - Okahukura Line • Wairarapa Line (inc. Hutt Valley Line)
South Island:
Midland Line • Nelson Section • Otago Central Railway • Stillwater - Westport Line • Waimea Plains Railway
Branch lines
Upper North Island
Cambridge • Dargaville • Donnelly's Crossing • Glen Afton • Kinleith • Kumeu-Riverhead • Mount Maunganui • Murupara • Newmarket • Okaihau • Onehunga • Onerahi • Opua • Rotorua • Taneatua • Thames • Waiuku and Mission Bush
Lower North Island
Upper South Island
Blackball and Roa • Cape Foulwind • Conns Creek • Eyreton • Fairlie • Little River • Lyttelton • Methven • Mount Somers • Oxford • Rapahoe • Rewanui • Hokitika/Ross • Seddonville • Southbridge • Waiau • Waimate • Whitecliffs
Lower South Island
Bluff • Catlins River • Dunback and Makareao • Fernhill • Hedgehope • Kingston • Kurow • Moeraki • Mossburn • Ngapara and Tokarahi • Outram • Port Chalmers • Roxburgh • Shag Point • Tapanui • Tokanui • Tuatapere • Waikaia • Waikaka • Wairio • Walton Park • Wyndham
Private lines
Glen Massey Branch • Dunedin Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway • Dun Mountain Railway • Hutt Park Railway • Kaitangata Line • Sanson Tramway • Wellington and Manawatu Railway
Significant proposals
Canterbury Interior Main Line • Nelson Railway Proposals • Taupo Railway Proposals • Wainuiomata Railway Proposals |
