Blenheim Riverside Railway

Blenheim Riverside Railway Blenheim Riverside Railway Society
BRR-Hug at Beaver Station
Route
Gauge :	610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Legend km 0.0 Brayshaw Park Station Junction to Omaka 0.4 Bridge over Taylor River 0.8 Workshop 0.9 Omaka Corlett Station Underpass under New Renwick Road 2.6 Chinaman's Creek Crossing Bridge over Chinaman's Creek Bridge over Taylor River Bridge bridge Underpass under high street bridge Bridge over Murphy's Creek Bridge over Fulton Stream 4.1 Fulton Station Underpass under Hutcheson Street Underpass under Alfred Street Underpass under State Highway 1 NZR Main North Line Bridge 169 5.1 Beaver Station

The Blenheim Riverside Railway (BRRS or BRR) is a 5.1 kilometer long, narrow gauge , museum railway with a gauge of 610 millimeters (2 feet ) in Blenheim , New Zealand .

history

The Blenheim Riverside Railway Society was founded in 1985 by members of the Marlborough Historical Society. Shortly afterwards rails were procured and a workshop was built. The line was relocated in sections from 1987, after which the museum railway was officially opened in 1990. Four passenger cars were built in 1989/90, and the A. & G. Price locomotive, later named George , was overhauled and put back into service. The first station at Brayshaw Park was very simple, but in 1995 Beaver Station (now Brayshaw Station) was built, to which the extension of the route was led over a steep incline through a cut and over an embankment. The route was led in 2005 to the current terminus Beaver Station at Riverside Park, whereupon the station at Brayshaw Park was renamed. Over the years the workshop has expanded and member-made concrete sleepers have been used to replace the originally wooden sleepers. In March 2015, a branch to Omaka Airfield was opened.

business

Passenger trains usually run on the main and branch lines on the first and third Sunday of each month. There are special trains during the school holidays and from late December to early January. Trains run on both the main line and the junction. You leave Brayshaw Park Station at 13:15 and 15:00 for Omaka and at 13:45 for Beaver Station.

Route

Main line

The route follows the Taylor River from Brayshaw Park in the southwest of Blenheim to Beaver Station at the dock for the River Queen boats. There are double-track passing points at Brayshaw Park, Chinaman's Creek Crossing, Fulton Station, and Beaver Station. There are six bridges and five underpasses. The rails, which weigh about 27 kg / m (55 lb per / yard) per meter and are supplied by New Zealand Railways , were buried to the top of the rails as the longest part of the route is in a nature reserve.

Omaka Branch Line

The 1 km long branch route to Omaka branches off just after Brayshaw Park, crosses the Taylor River on a 46 m long concrete bridge and ends at the Omaka Corlett Station at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Center and the Omaka Classic Cars buildings. The tracks were laid from 2013/2014. The aim was to complete the route by the 2015 Omaka Airshow, and it was indeed able to go into operation on Saturday, March 21, 2015. The commitment of the club members in the construction of the branch line was recognized with the KiwiRails Infrastructure Award at the FRONZ conference on the Queen's birthday weekend in 2015.

Coordinates of the train stations

• Brayshaw Park Station
• Beaver Station
• Omaka Station

Rail vehicles

Locomotives

The railroad has a small collection of diesel locomotives. An A. & G. Price Da 6 was purchased in 1986 from Horrell & Sons from Gore and used in the construction of the track. It was completely overhauled in 2010, replacing the original Leyland engine with one from Isuzu , whereupon it was named George after one of the longest-serving members of the club. The Ruston & Hornsby 170204 was bought from the Ashburton Vintage Car Club. It was re-gauged and overhauled, after which it was officially put back into operation in 1997 under the name Murray . In 2012 two locomotives were purchased. A self-built diesel-hydraulic bogie locomotive with the name Onahau , which was previously bequeathed to the company by the operating family on a private railway on the Marlborough Sounds . A second Ruston type 20DL, which looks like a steam locomotive, was previously located at the only briefly operated Footrot Flats amusement park in Auckland . In November 2016, the association acquired an A. & G. Price Da 8, George's last surviving sister locomotive, and two bogie cars. These came from the Totara Springs Christian Center near Matamata . The locomotive was started in 2017, while the wagons still had to be overhauled.

Surname	Manufacturer	Construction year	class	serial number	Wheel alignment	drive	Procurement year
George	A. & G. Price	1951	There	166	0-4-0	Isuzu 4HF1	1986
NN	A. & G. Price	1951	There	168	0-4-0	Leyland O300	2016
Murray	Ruston & Hornsby	1934	22/28 HP	170204	0-4-0	Lister JP3	1990
Beaver	Ruston & Hornsby	1940	20DL	202969	0-4-0	Lister ST2	2012
Onahau	Self-made	1990s	-	-	Bo-Bo	Nissan CD17 / 20	2012
Donald	probably Glasgow Engineering Company	1901	-	-	0-4-2 (originally 0-4-0)	Steam 6.5 x 10 in	1990

• 

  A. & G. Price

• 

  Murray

• 

  A. & G. Price

Web links

• BRRS website
• BRR Facebook page

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bridge brings rail project closer . In: The Marlborough Express , Fairfax New Zealand, May 15, 2014. 
2. ↑ Volunteers saluted at rail opening . In: The Marlborough Express , Fairfax New Zealand, March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 25, 2015. 
3. ↑ National plaudits for Blenheim's riverside railway . In: Marlborough Express , Fairfax New Zealand, June 3, 2015. Retrieved June 4, 2015. 

Coordinates: 41 ° 31 ′ 54 ″  S , 173 ° 56 ′ 23 ″  E