49-702: The Conns Creek Branch was a 2.7 kilometre (1.7 mile) branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand 's South Island . It diverged from the Seddonville Branch at Waimangaroa and followed the southern bank of the Waimangaroa River to the line's terminus at Conns Creek at the foot of the Denniston Incline . The line operated from 1877 until 1967 and existed for the sole purpose of conveying coal from mines to
98-487: A railyard or make short transfer runs. They may serve as the primary motive power on short branch lines or switching and terminal railroads . Switchers are optimized for their role, being relatively low-powered but with a high starting tractive effort for getting heavy cars rolling quickly. Switchers are geared to produce high torque but are restricted to low top speeds and have small diameter driving wheels . Switchers tend to be durable and to remain in service for
147-510: A common sight along railroads in industrial and rural cities alike. As automobile and roadway technology improved throughout the early and mid-20th century, most low volume industry spurs were abandoned in favor of the greater flexibility and economic savings of trucking. Today, railroads remain the most economical way to ship large quantities of material, a fact that is reflected in industrial spurs. Most modern day spurs serve very large industries that require hundreds, if not thousands, of carloads
196-403: A high cab and often lower and/or narrower hoods (bonnets) containing the diesel engines, for all round visibility. Slugs are often used because they allow even greater tractive effort to be applied. Nearly all slugs used for switching are of the low hood, cabless variety. Good visibility in both directions is critical, because a switcher may be running in either direction; turning the locomotive
245-520: A long time, such as the Swedish class U . American, Russian, Indian and Chinese switchers tend to be larger, with bogies to allow them to be used on tight radiuses. Western European shunters tend to be smaller and more often have fixed axles . They also often maintained coupling rods for longer than other locomotive types, although bogie types have long been used where very heavy loads are involved, such as at steelworks. A switcher may also be called
294-464: A mainline, they tend to have lower maintenance and signaling (train control) standards. Before the rise of the long-distance trucking in the early 1930s, railroads were the primary means of transportation around the world. Industries of the era were commonly built along railroad lines specifically to allow for easy access to shipping. Short (under a mile, oftentimes only several hundred yards) industrial spurs with very small (under ten car) capacities were
343-823: A section of the West Rail line . Discontinued services include the Sha Tau Kok Railway and the Wo Hop Shek Branch . A spur line to Siu Sai Wan has been proposed. Delhi On the Delhi Metro , the Blue Line has a Branch Line with 8 Stations, linking Yamuna Bank to Ghaziabad via Anand Vihar ISBT and terminating at Vaishali. The first section of the Branch opened on 8 January 2010 with Anand Vihar as its terminal with six stations. It
392-529: A sharp decline in Britain in the latter half of the 20th century, largely due to the contraction of the network, increased competition from road traffic and widespread adoption of train-load freight, with fixed rakes of wagons moving mainly bulk products between rapid-loading facilities, as opposed to thousands of sidings and goods depots feeding trains of assorted wagons into the marshalling yards. In continental Europe 0-6-0 (or "C") diesel-hydraulics, similar to
441-557: A short length of track between the ovens and the quenching tower. Despite their ubiquity, very few have survived into preservation as there is very little scope of operating them due to their unique means of obtaining power, slow speed and the fact they greatly exceed the loading gauge of most railway lines. One example built by Greenwood and Batley in Armley , Leeds is preserved at the Middleton Railway , not far from where it
490-531: A subsidy for grain transport, and instead allowed railways to absorb branch line subsidies freely without making effort to improve the profitability of the lines. The term "grain-dependent branch lines" began being used as early as 1978 to refer to the special case of these branch lines in agricultural areas whose viability depended on the economics of grain transport. The Western Grain Transportation Act of 1983 addressed this case specifically, but
539-405: A yard pilot, switch engine, or yard goat. The term can also be used to describe the workers operating these engines or engaged in directing shunting operations. Switching locomotives may be purpose-built engines, but may also be downgraded main-line engines, or simply main-line engines assigned to switching. Switchers can also be used on short excursion train rides. Diesel switchers tend to have
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#1732787781018588-466: A year. There is an international branch line between Italy and Vatican: the 300-metre Vatican Railway , connecting from the Pisa-Rome railway mainline at Roma San Pietro railway station , to Vatican City station . Many British railway branch lines were closed as a result of the " Beeching cuts " in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as heritage railways . The smallest branch line that
637-569: Is 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 . Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located on a main line. Branch lines may also connect two or more main lines. An industrial spur is a type of secondary track used by railroads to allow customers at a location to load and unload railcars without interfering with other railroad operations. Industrial spurs can vary greatly in length and railcar capacity depending on
686-567: Is still in operation in the UK is the Stourbridge Town Branch Line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town . Operating on a single track, the journey is 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometres) long and the train takes around two and a half minutes to complete its journey. In North America, little-used branch lines are often sold by large railroads to become new common carrier short-line railroads of their own. Throughout
735-711: Is time-consuming. Some earlier diesel switchers used cow–calf configurations of two powered units in order to provide greater power. Modern diesel switchers are usually diesel-electric locomotives . The majority of modern switchers are diesels, but countries with near-total electrification , like Switzerland, use electric switchers. Prior to the introduction of diesel-electric locomotives, electric shunting locomotives were used to an extent in Great Britain where heavy trains needed to be started on steep gradients. The steeply-graded Quayside Branch in Newcastle upon Tyne
784-532: The Bay of Plenty Region , lines were built inland to provide rail access to large logging operations. Today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or industries far from main lines such as coal mines, logging operations, large dairying factories, and steelworks . In Auckland and Wellington , two branch lines in each city exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see
833-619: The Denniston Incline , closed on 30 April 1878. The extension to the new terminus at Conns Creek at the foot of the Denniston Incline was ready for running in February 1879, and in April 1880 the Denniston Incline began operation. Ownership of different parts of this short branch line changed many times. The lower 1.6 kilometre (1 mile) section from Waimangaroa was owned by the Wellington Coal Mining Company from
882-496: The E class (1922) Some switchers are electro-diesel , and hence can be powered from onboard diesel engines, or from an external electricity supply. Steam shunter/switchers are now mostly out of service. Steam switchers were either tank locomotives or had special (smaller) tenders , with narrow coal bunkers and/or sloped tender decks to increase rearward visibility. Headlights, where carried, were mounted on both ends. Most were either side-tank or saddle-tank types, however in
931-753: The Gladstone Branch in New Jersey; as well as the New Canaan Branch , Danbury Branch , and Waterbury Branch in Connecticut . The Long Island Rail Road also refers to its services as "branches". In Chile, there are a lot of branch lines on its main line, of only a few remain operational. Most only operating in turistic services (like the Antilhue-Valdivia branch line), others have been taken over by other railways (like
980-1048: The Grand Trunk , Canadian National , or Canadian Pacific ) which would acquire formerly independent short line railways for use as branch lines, with the short line often continuing to exist as a subsidiary. For example, when the Canadian Pacific acquired the Algoma Eastern Railway (a short line) in 1930, it soon after abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline, but retained sections close to Algoma Eastern–Canadian Pacific junctions as short branch lines or spurs. The National Transportation Act of 1967 provided government subsidies for branch lines. Western railway development in Canada worked in concert with land settlement and cultivation, as pioneers were settled near railway lines, often on land
1029-788: The North South Line between Jurong East and Choa Chu Kang stations was operated as a separate line, known as the Branch line . It was merged into the North–South Line with the opening of the Woodlands Extension in 1996. The future Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line will also have branch lines. New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the South Island regions of Canterbury , Otago , and Southland . Many were built in
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#17327877810181078-704: The South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line to LOHAS Park station , opened in 2009. Earlier, a spur line was built in 1985 on the East Rail line to serve Racecourse station , bypassing Fo Tan station . Also, the Tsim Sha Tsui Extension [ yue ] was built in 2004 on the East Rail line to serve East Tsim Sha Tsui station . However, after the Kowloon Southern Link was completed in 2009, this spur line turns into
1127-461: The list of New Zealand railway lines . Switcher A switcher locomotive ( American English ), shunter locomotive ( British English ), or shifter locomotive ( Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distances. Switchers do not usually move trains over long distances. Instead, they typically assemble trains in order for another locomotive to take over. Switchers often operate in
1176-643: The Conns Creek Branch still exist. Some of the old formation is still visible and a road to the foot of the Denniston Incline follows it for 1.3 kilometres (0.8 miles). At the Conns Creek terminus are a couple of 'Q' class coal wagons (hopper wagons of the type used on the incline), a crane, stone retaining walls, and other relics. From this point, the remains of the incline extend up to Denniston. Branch line A branch line
1225-632: The Conns Creek Branch subsequently closed in November 1967. A one kilometre long portion to a location known as East Backshunt (essentially a long siding from the Waimangaroa yard) was retained to receive coal carried by truck from the Denniston plateau. This operated for only a short time before being closed and the track lifted. Although remnants of closed railways deteriorate and disappear over time due to natural and human activity, some remains of
1274-695: The San Rosendo-Talcahuano branch line, which has been taken over by Biotrén and the Laja-Talcahuano train service) however, there is one branch line that still remains as fully operative. The Talca-Constitución branch line, which uses trains with bus motors. Two extensions to the MTR rapid transit network were built as branches of existing lines: the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line to Lok Ma Chau station , which opened in 2007; and
1323-623: The U.S. state of New Jersey . The line is a short branch of the Northeast Corridor Line , running from Princeton Junction northwest to Princeton with no intermediate stops. Also known as the "Dinky Line", at 2.9 mi (4.7 km) it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States. The run takes 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Other than the Princeton Line, other surviving branch lines include
1372-469: The United States and Canada, branch lines link smaller towns too distant from the main line to be served efficiently, or to serve a certain industrial site such as a power station either because of a location away from the main line or to reduce congestion. They were typically built to lower standards, using lighter rail and shallow roadbeds when compared to main lines. Much of Canada's branch line history relates to large rail transport conglomerates (such as
1421-739: The United States. Current British shunters are 0-6-0 diesel-electrics, Class 08 and Class 09 , of 350-400 horsepower. These were developed from similar locomotives supplied by the English Electric Company to the Big Four British railway companies in the 1930s and 1940s, e.g. those pioneered by the LMS . Similar locomotives were exported to the Netherlands (e.g. NS Class 600 ) and Australia (e.g. Victorian Railways F class (diesel) ). The use of shunting locomotives saw
1470-573: The Westport Coal Company (which operated the nearby Denniston Incline ) in February 1887. Prior to 1887, the Westport Coal Company had to pay high fees to carry coal over this part of the line, first to the Wellington Coal Mining Company and Koranui Coal Mining Company, then to the Union Steam Ship Company; ownership released the company from this difficulty. The upper 1.1 kilometre (0.7 mile) section to Conns Creek
1519-415: The branch. The Koranui mine and incline closed in 1887. Traffic was in significant decline by the time the railway passed into NZR ownership, and trains no longer ran through to Westport; a shunting locomotive based in Waimangaroa shuttled wagons up and down the branch, and Seddonville Branch trains took the wagons between Waimangaroa and Westport. The Denniston Incline closed on 16 August 1967, and much of
Conns Creek Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
1568-682: The first portion of the Conns Creek Branch - as far as the Wellington Mine - opened in 1877. A bridge across the river connected the then terminus of the branch on the south bank with the Wellington Mine on the north bank. In 1877, good quality coal was found high on the Mount Rochfort Plateau and the Westport Colliery Company was formed to exploit it. Tenders to extend the Wellington Coal Mining Company's railway by 1.1 kilometres (0.7 miles), and build
1617-569: The first president of the Canadian National Railway , said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are even essential to make main lines pay. In the United States, abandonment of unproductive branch lines was a byproduct of deregulation of the rail industry through the Staggers Act . The Princeton Branch is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in
1666-488: The late 19th century to open up inland regions for farming and other economic activities. The branches in the South Island regions were often general-purpose lines that carried predominantly agricultural traffic, but lines elsewhere were often built to serve a specific resource: on the West Coast , an extensive network of branch lines was built in rugged terrain to serve coal mines, while in the central North Island and
1715-594: The line became goods only. For most of its life, essentially all traffic on the Conns Creek Branch was to or from the Denniston Incline . The Wellington Coal Mining Company's mine was unsuccessful and closed in 1880. From October 1882 until the beginning of 1887, coal from the Koranui Coal Mining Company's mine on Mount Frederick was brought – via the Koranui Incline and a bridge over the river – to sidings 1.2 kilometres (0.75 miles) up
1764-556: The line's opening in 1877 until 1880, when the company folded. The line was then bought by the Koranui Coal Mining Company, which was building the Koranui Incline from the north bank of the Waimangaroa River, adjacent to the Wellington Mine, up Simms Spur to access its mine on Mt Frederick. This lower part of the line was bought by the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand on 1 August 1885, and then by
1813-725: The necessary speed to travel any kind of distance. Small industrial shunters have sometimes been fireless locomotives and a few of these are still at work in Germany. Again, several have been preserved, but are mostly static displays, as heritage railways and museums lack the large source of high-pressure steam (such as a power station 's boilers) needed to charge the locomotive's accumulator. American switchers tend to be larger, and are almost always powered by diesel. Most American switchers are actually road switchers , which are larger and have greater power output, to be used on mainlines. British shunters are much smaller than those used in
1862-501: The port of Westport. Construction of the Seddonville Branch railway from Westport to Seddonville had begun in 1874. In September 1875 the Wellington Coal Mining Company called for tenders for a private line from a junction with the Seddonville branch at Waimangaroa to a site 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) up the Waimangaroa River adjacent to the company's mine. The Seddonville Branch was completed as far as Waimangaroa on 5 August 1876 and
1911-572: The railways had owned. However, by the mid-20th century, railways began neglecting lines in western agricultural regions. This was historically driven by factors such as the Crow Rate , which regulated the price railways could charge for shipping grain. Railways had little incentive to invest in rural Prairie branch lines, but were legally unable to abandon them under the National Transportation Act , which also did not provide
1960-507: The requirements of the customer the spur is serving. In heavily industrialized areas, it is not uncommon for one industrial spur to have multiple sidings to several different customers. Typically, spurs are serviced by local trains responsible for collecting small numbers of railcars and delivering them to a larger yard, where these railcars are sorted and dispatched in larger trains with other cars destined to similar locations. Because industrial spurs generally have less capacity and traffic than
2009-461: The river was one of the more extensive industrial networks. A number of the early German locomotives built for use on these lines have been preserved. Electric locomotives were also extensively employed for moving the coke cars at cokeworks , obtaining power from a side wire, as third rail or overhead line electrification would have been impractical. These specialised locomotives were tall steeple-cab types not seen anywhere else, and operated on
Conns Creek Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
2058-679: The task alongside "Big Bertha" . As diesel shunters began to appear in ever-increasing numbers, attempts were made by companies such as Sentinel to adapt the vertical boilers from their steam powered road vehicles for use in shunting locomotives, in order to compete with the newcomers. Although these were found to be equal in power and efficiency to most of the early diesel designs, their development came too late to have any real impact. Outwardly, they bear more resemblance to diesels than steam locomotives. A number have been preserved on heritage railways , although few of these are in working order, being designed very specifically for shunting work and lacking
2107-621: The usual departure from its neighbours' practice, the Great Western Railway used pannier tanks for shunting and branch line work, a practice which the Western Region of BR perpetuated until steam traction was phased out, with several examples joining a 9F as banking engines to assist locomotives on the notoriously arduous ascent of the Lickey Incline, replacing the LMS "Jinties" which had formerly carried out
2156-495: Was a steep line, with a ruling grade of 1 in 37. Motive power on the branch was always provided by steam locomotives . Traffic other than coal being conveyed to the harbour in Westport was insignificant. At the start of the 20th century, four trains operated each way daily; these were initially mixed trains as provisions were made to convey passengers (a passenger carriage attached to each train). These were removed in 1931 and
2205-464: Was built. Small industrial shunters are sometimes battery powered type. An early battery-powered shunting locomotive is shown here. The Tyne and Wear Metro has three battery electric shunters built by Hunslet , which are used to haul engineering trains when the overhead supply is switched off. New Zealand Railways imported and manufactured locally battery-electric shunters in the 1920s: the EB class and
2254-795: Was electrified by the North Eastern Railway in 1905, and two steeplecab locomotives were built to handle all traffic on the line. One of these, No. 1 , is now part of the National Collection and resides at Locomotion in Shildon . On the opposite side of the Tyne, the electrified lines owned by the Harton Coal Company in South Shields for the movement of coal and colliery waste to shipping facilities on
2303-504: Was further extended to Vaishali in 2011. The line is planned to be extended from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar via Sahibabad Station to link with the main line. The East West Line of the MRT system in Singapore has a two-station branch to Changi Airport . The first station, Expo , opened in 2001. It was extended to Changi Airport station the next year. From 1990 to 1996, the section of
2352-824: Was owned by the Westport Colliery Company (which was reformed into the Westport Coal Company in 1881) from its opening in 1879 until 1948. In 1948, the whole 2.7 kilometre (1.7 mile) Conns Creek Branch was taken over by the New Zealand State Mines Department, and on 25 September 1958 ownership passed to New Zealand Railways. The Conns Creek Branch was operated throughout its life by the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR), which also supplied all locomotives and rolling stock. It
2401-502: Was repealed in 1994 in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement and budget-balancing initiatives in favour of a one-time payout by the federal government directly to farmers, to arrange transport of grain themselves. From the mid-1970s to the late 2010s, more than 9,300 kilometres (5,800 mi) of Prairie branch lines were abandoned or had a discontinuance of service. David Blyth Hanna ,
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