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26-619: The Blenheim Riverside Railway ( BRRS or BRR ) is a 2 ft ( 610 mm ) narrow gauge heritage railway in Blenheim, New Zealand . It runs along the Taylor River, which winds its way through the middle of the town. It is operated by the all-volunteer Blenheim Riverside Railway Society. The railway society was founded in 1985 by members of the Marlborough Historical Society, and shortly after rail

52-509: A batch of three, was constructed to work coal mines in Ohai . It was overhauled in 2010, replacing the original Leyland powerplant with an Isuzu, and named "George" after a long serving member of the society. November 2016, the Society purchased A&G Price Da 8, last remaining sister of "George" and two bogie carriages. These came from Totara Springs Christian Centre near Matamata , after use on

78-496: A branch line extension to Omaka Airfield. Trains run normally on the first and third Sundays of every month for the general public. Trains also run extra days during school holidays and over late December or early January. These use both the main line and branch line, with trains departing Brayshaw Park Station at 1:15 o' clock and 3:00 o'clock to Omaka at 1:45 o'clock in the morning to Beaver Station. The train can be chartered on most days for tour groups, etc. The railway follows

104-542: A private railway in the Marlborough Sounds was donated by the constructors family, and named "Onahau" after its former home. A second Ruston, of 20DL type but with steam locomotive outline body, was purchased from Auckland and once worked at the short lived Footrot Flats theme park. It is not used for passenger service, but is still equipped with air brakes and is used mainly for workshop shunting. Four carriages were built in 1989-1990 with wheelsets from some of

130-465: A vivid contrast to the burnt brown of the Marlborough hills. A fault running underneath Lake Grassmere triggered a magnitude 6.6 earthquake on Friday, August 16, 2013 at 2:31:05 pm. The quake was 8 kilometres (5 mi) deep and was strike-slip fault similar to the 2013 Seddon earthquake on July 21, thus considered a doublet earthquake . The official name of the lake become a dual name as

156-456: Is attained only in rare floods. The watershed is small. The climate, with a low average rainfall of 585 millimetres (23.0 in) and prevailing strong and dry north-westerly winds, provides Lake Grassmere with the suitable conditions required for natural economic salt production. The Māori name for the lake is Kapara Te Hau ("wind-blown lake"). Early whalers on the coast rendered this name “Cobblers' Hole”. According to Māori oral tradition,

182-433: Is ideal for natural salt extraction. Grassmere has been divided into solar evaporation ponds. Seawater is pumped in, and moved between ponds over several months, increasing in salinity with each evaporation period. As salinity increases, crystallised salt forms and is extracted. These crystals give the lake a distinctive pink colour. Grassmere's area varies between 3,500 and 4,400 acres (14 and 18 km ); this maximum

208-623: Is perfectly suited to solar salt production. In the mid 1960s harvests were carried out with a new pattern of crystallising ponds which have special provision for draining off rainwater before it has had time to mix with the brine concentrate. The harvest for 1964–65 reached 30,000 tons, a record at the time. By 1970 the harvest had increased to almost 52,000 tonnes, but this could not match demand, which had grown with industrial development (especially from freezing works and pulp and paper mills). It became evident that Grassmere could not meet New Zealand's salt requirements. Bulk shipments of salt from

234-491: Is solar salt, and both iodised and non-iodised table salt are available. Iodised salt contains added iodine (to prevent goitre ) and silicon dioxide (to make the salt run). Specialty salts, including flaky salt, are also produced at Lake Grassmere. Animal health products such as salt licks for farm animals are produced at Grassmere and Mt Maunganui. At the end of summer Grassmere's gleaming white salt piles are easily seen from State Highway 1. This seasonal landmark forms

260-486: Is used for majority of the line, and the track is buried up to rail head level as most is laid on reserve land. The 1km line to Omaka branches off shortly after leaving Brayshaw Park, crosses the Taylor River on a 46m concrete bridge, ending at Omaka Corlett Station near the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre and Omaka Classic Cars buildings. Tracklaying began during 2013-2014. It was expected that

286-456: The 1 ft  11 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ( 603 mm ) gauge Brecon Mountain Railway . Lake Grassmere Lake Grassmere / Kapara Te Hau is a New Zealand waituna-type lagoon in the northeastern South Island , close to Cook Strait . The lake is used for the production of salt. Lake Grassmere, 25 miles (40 km) south of Blenheim and 6 miles (10 km) south of

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312-707: The South African Class NG15 2-8-2 locomotives started their career on the 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge. The Otavi Mining and Railway Company in South West Africa (now Namibia ) were transferred to the 2 ft gauge railways in South Africa and currently some surviving locomotives reside in Wales on the 1 ft  11 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 597 mm ) gauge Welsh Highland Railway and

338-676: The "Onahau" loco, due to its low speed. 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways Most of these lines are tourist lines, which are often heritage railways or industrial lines, such as the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales and the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado . World War I trench railways produced the greatest concentration of 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways to date. In preparation for World War II ,

364-721: The Caribbean and Australia were landed at Mt Maunganui, where a vacuum salt plant was built. This produced the high-purity salt needed by producers in the dairy and pharmaceutical industries. A second, smaller vacuum plant was built at Grassmere. Some rolling stock from the railway at Grassmere salt works is preserved at the Ferrymead Two Foot Railway . A large range of salts with slightly different chemical compositions, grain sizes and shapes are produced at Lake Grassmere. All table salt produced in New Zealand

390-761: The French Maginot Line and Alpine Line also used 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways for supply routes to the fixed border defenses. Australia has over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge sugar cane railway networks in the coastal areas of Queensland , which carry more than 30 million tonnes of sugar cane a year. Many 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge and 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways are used in amusement parks and theme parks worldwide. The interchange of rolling stock between these similar track gauges occasionally occurred; for example,

416-641: The Kerikeri Orchard Railway who originally obtained the locomotives from Ohai. The locomotive entered service in 2017 after refitting of ballast blocks each end of the frame, brake system modifications and a new livery. Ruston & Hornsby 170204 was purchased from the Ashburton Vintage Car Club, regauged and overhauled, officially entering service in 1997 named "Murray". The year 2012 was the arrival of two locomotives. A homebuilt hydraulic bogie locomotives, formerly used at

442-513: The Omaka branch line. The two ex-Matamata cars also are 6m long and had toast rack seating. These two cars are undergoing rebuilding to become a permanent pair sharing a Jacobs bogie . Maintenance of the railway line is carried out using a work train consisting of multi deck tool wagon, flat deck wagons, and crew car for workers. Spraying of weeds and mowing of grass along the line are performed with separate purpose built trollies, pulled or pushed by

468-632: The Taylor River from Brayshaw Park in the southwest of Blenheim to Beaver Station, near a wharf where the River Queen boat formerly docked. There are locomotive run-around or passing loops at Brayshaw Park, Chinaman's Creek Crossing, Fulton Station and Beaver Station. The route is 5.1km long and there are six bridges and five road overbridges. At Beaver Station the line passes under the Main North Line Taylor River bridge (light ~55lb per/yard (27kg/m). New Zealand Railways rail

494-519: The extension would be completed in time for the 2015 Omaka Airshow, and was opened on Saturday, 21 March 2015. The society's efforts in constructing the branch line were recognised with an infrastructure award from Kiwi Rail at the FRONZ conference over Queen's birthday weekend in 2015. The railway has a small collection of diesel locomotives. In 1986, the society acquired A & G Price Da 6 from Horrell & Sons of Gore. This locomotive, first of

520-415: The lake occupies the site of early cultivations. Kupe , the navigator, is said to have poured salt water on these cultivations, thus creating the lake. In pre-European times it was used as a ready source of food, as it attracts a wide range of waterfowl. In 1832–33, a year after Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha had defeated Ngāi Tahu at Kaiapoi and Banks Peninsula , Ngāti Toa visited

546-422: The lake to take moulting ducks. A Ngāi Tahu force, having learned of this impending visit, laid an ambush. Scouts from Te Rauparaha's party found the locality apparently uninhabited and the canoes were driven ashore. On landing, the visitors were taken by surprise and sustained heavy casualties. Te Rauparaha was seized by Tūhawaiki , who was anxious to take him alive. The captive, however, after feigning resignation,

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572-535: The mouth of the Awatere River , is a shallow lagoon protected from the open sea by a single barrier beach covered by sand dunes. It is on the north-easterly extension of the Ward depression. Covering an area of 17 square kilometres (6.6 sq mi), it has no natural inflow and is prone to strong warm winds. Close to the sea, it also has very high salinity . Because of these geographical characteristics, it

598-403: The remaining Lake Grassmere Saltworks Hudson salt tipper wagons. The first three are 4.5m long and seat 24 adults with toast rack seating. Car Four is slightly longer with the same seating capacity, but with wheelchair access available in the two end compartments. All carriages are air braked. A bogie diesel railcar , known as RM 1, was built in the 1990s, and sees occasional use, mostly on

624-408: The workshop requiring a cutting and embankment with a steep gradient. In 2005, the track was extended to the current terminus at Beaver Station (with the station at Brayshaw Park renamed) by Riverside Park. Over the years the workshops have been enlarged, and concrete sleepers made by the volunteer members have been used to replace the wooden ones first used on the line. And March 2015 was the opening of

650-434: Was less tightly held. He then slipped out of his flax garment, swam to a canoe and made his escape. Until the 1940s Grassmere's bed was a mud bath in winter and a dustbowl in summer, with the occasional natural deposit of salt. The salt industry began in 1943 and now occupies one-third of the suitable lake area of 15 square kilometres (3,800 acres). The 1960 production was 17,000 tons. In addition to low rainfall, Grassmere

676-417: Was sourced and a workshop constructed. The line was progressively laid from 1987 and the railway officially opened in 1990. Four carriages were built in 1989-1990, and the A & G Price locomotive (later named "George") was restored and put into service. The first station at Brayshaw Park was very basic, however during 1995 Beaver Station (now Brayshaw Station) was constructed, with an extension of track from

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