Otago Central Railway

Mosgiel-Cromwell
Suspension bridge over the Manuherikia River
Route length:	236 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Legend Main South Line to Dunedin 0.0 Wingatui ( Mosgiel ) Main South Line to Invercargill Salisbury Taioma Wingatui Viaduct Parera Mount Allan Christmas Creek Hindon Deep stream Flat stream The Reefs 45.0 Pukerangi Matarae Matarae siding Sutton 64.0 Middlemarch Ngapuna Rock and Pillar Hyde Hyde Township Tiroiti Kokonga Waipiata 123.5 Ranfurly Wedderburn Oturehua Ida Valley Auripo Poolburn Viaduct Lauder Omakau Chatto Creek Galloway 207.0 Alexandra 214.0 Clyde (new) Clyde Doigs Waenga 236.0 Cromwell

The Otago Central Railway , often erroneously called Central Otago Railway , was a railway line on the South Island of New Zealand , which was to connect the Otago region with Dunedin and via the port of Port Chalmers with the Pacific Ocean .

geography

The route ran from Wingatui near Mosgiel in a north-westerly direction via Middlemarch and Hyde to Waipiata along the Taieri River , crossed the Maniototo Plain via Ranfurly to Wedderburn in order to reach its highest point on the route at the northern foothills of the Rough Ridge at 618 meters . From there, the line made a swivel to the west and then headed further in a south-westerly direction along the Ida Burn and the Manuherikia River via Omakau towards Alexandra . The last section ran after another swing in a north-westerly direction via Clyde , through the Cromwell Gorge along the Clutha River to the terminus Cromwell .

history

Train the Dunedin Railways on the Wingatui Viaduct

After the decision of Finance Minister Julius Vogel in 1870 to push ahead with the expansion of the infrastructure and thus also the construction of the railways in New Zealand, the Otago Provincial Council (provincial council) in the early 1880s had an inconclusive discussion about the appropriate route through Otago. There were seven routes to choose from, and the risks of each individual route seemed so great that the project was finally declared over in 1876. A year later, Taieri County Council, with the support of influential citizens from Dunedin, took up the project again and decided on the route through the valley of the Taieri River. The driving force behind this project was the city of Dunedin, which feared being left behind by the general development of rail transport .

Construction of the route

In June 1879, construction of the first section through the eastern part of the Taieri Plains began, although the districts of Oamaru, South Otago and Southland had not yet given their approval. When construction began, it was still believed that the railway line to Wanaka could be built by 1884 . In the following 42 years of construction of the line, Cromwell was reached and further expansion was discontinued for economic reasons.

The construction of the first section began in Wingatui, at the junction of the Main South Line , 13 km from Dunedin and should take place as far as Middlemarch. The first major challenge arose with the construction of the Taioma Viaduct, now known as the Wingatui Viaduct . The construction turned out to be more difficult than expected and delayed the entire expansion by years. The steel structure of the bridge was completed in 1887. In 1891, after 64 km of route construction and 12 years after the start of construction, the first section was ceremoniously opened, not without public criticism of the slow progress of the expansion.

In the following 30 years, further sections were gradually implemented until the final construction stop. Everywhere in Otago, where the rail link provided access to the inexpensive means of mass transport, trade prospered, the cities were expanded and tourist traffic created new markets and needs. Otago was connected to Dunedin, the capital city of Otago, via the Otago Central Railway, via the Main South Line, to New Zealand and via the port of Port Chalmers, with the rest of the world and experienced an economic boom. But Clyde was almost the last station on the line. The government of New Zealand was not prepared to take on the constantly increasing investment costs of expanding the line for just 2,700 residents. Under pressure from settlers in the Cromwell region, the government let construction of the definitive last section of the route begin in 1917.

Subsections

Opening of the sections:

• 1891 to Middlemarch
• 1898 to Ranfurly
• 1904 to Omakau
• 1906 to Alexandra
• 1907 to Clyde
• 1921 to Cromwell

Partial shutdown

The first partial closure of the line took place in 1980 on the last section from Clyde to Cromwell. The railway connection stood in the way of the construction of the Clyde Dam and the resulting dammed Lake Dunstan . Until 1989, however, the section of the route was still used for the transport of materials for the construction of the dam.

In December 1989 it was announced by the Minister of Railways Richard William Prebble that the operation of the Otago Central Railway would be completely stopped on April 30, 1990.

The city of Dunedin bought the route from Wingatui to Middlemarch from the New Zealand government in order to continue to operate it privately. The NZ $ 1.2 million needed to finance the project was raised through public engagement . In 1995 the city founded the operating company Taieri Gorge Limited together with the Otago Excursion Train Trust and developed the railway line into the longest private museum railway in New Zealand and one of the tourist attractions of the region.

On the Otago Central Rail Trail .

The route from Middlemarch to Clyde was dismantled.

Todays use

The section from Wingatui to Middlemarch through the Taieri Gorge is now operated under the name Taieri Gorge Railway and, with its daily trips, is an integral part of the tourist program of the city of Dunedin. The museum train starts at Dunedin station and runs alternately to Pukerangi or Middlemarch .

The remainder of the former route to Clyde has been used as the Otago Central Rail Trail , which has been expanded as a bike and hiking trail , since 2000 . For around 150 kilometers, the route follows the course of the former railway line, on which 68 bridges and three tunnels, including the Pries Creek Tunnel and the Poolburn George Tunnels, lie. The route is closed to motor vehicles and has numerous information boards which, like the cycle path itself, are maintained by the Department of Conservation .

literature

• Murray McCaskill: Otago Province or Provincial District . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 (English, online and 5 other pages [accessed December 15, 2015]).
• Geoffrey B. Churchman, Tony Hurst: The Railways of New Zealand - A Journey through History . Harper Collins Publishers, Wellington 1990, ISBN 0-908876-20-3 (English, 2nd edition from Transpress-Verlag, Wellington, 2001).

Web links

• Otago Central Rail Trail. Otago Central Rail Trail Charitable Trust, accessed September 3, 2014 . 
• Taieri Gorge Railway. Taieri Gorge Limited, accessed September 3, 2014 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Taiere Gorge Railway: Good things take time. Contractor Magazine, September 2007, archived from the original on August 19, 2010 ; accessed on December 31, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).  
2. ^ ^{A b} The History of the Taieri Gorge Railway. Taieri Gorge Limited, archived from the original on December 18, 2013 ; accessed on December 31, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).  
3. ^ New Zealand's First Rail Trail. Otago Central Rail Trail Charitable Trust, 2009, archived from the original on February 16, 2009 ; accessed on December 31, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).