49-462: The Otago Central Railway (OCR) or in later years Otago Central Branch Railway , now often referred to as the Taieri Gorge Railway , was a secondary railway line in Central Otago , in the South Island of New Zealand . Construction of the OCR began in 1877 and the 27-km section to Hindon was opened in 1889. The line was completed to Middlemarch two years later. The 26 km section of line from Middlemarch to Hyde then opened in 1894. This
98-642: A Council-controlled organisation (formerly known as a Local-authority trading enterprise ) under Part 5 of the Local Government Act 2002 . This was due to the need to raise more capital to finance the expansion of the Trusts operation. Dunedin City Council then sold the railway line to the new company, and the Trust sold its locomotives, carriages and other assets to the new company. The company
147-676: A delay until the section through the Cromwell Gorge was resumed in 1914. The line reached Cromwell, 236 km, in 1921. The Clyde - Cromwell section (20 km) was closed in 1980 due to construction of the Clyde Dam , a hydro-electric power station in the Cromwell Gorge on the Clutha River . The dam flooded the gorge, through which the line ran, to form Lake Dunstan . The branch begins at Wingatui railway station on
196-401: A different wheel arrangement, thereby making the thirteen members of the Q class the first "true" Pacifics in the world. The Pacific style went on to become arguably the most famous wheel arrangement in the world. The Q class's design stems from the requirement for a locomotive similar to the U class with the inclusion of a wide Wootten firebox to burn poor quality lignite coal from
245-577: A section of short bridges and cuttings through several rocky outcrops, on its way to Pukerangi. Between Pukerangi and Middlemarch, the railway only once more comes close to the Taieri River, where it crosses Sutton Creek over another combined road-rail bridge. Dunedin Railways currently operates on a reduced schedule. The Inlander runs through the Taieri Gorge to Hindon, The Seasider runs up
294-416: A variant of the modified New Zealand Railways scheme carried by the class in the 1980s, where the low nose sides are painted blue instead of yellow and grey cab front. Two locomotives are in an operational condition, but are not currently certified for mainline use; a seventh, DJ3021 (ex-D 1202), is being stored, pending future restoration after it was purchased from its former home at Ranfurly station where it
343-663: Is an AL class car-van with a small luggage compartment at one end while the other two are A class carriages. Steel-clad cars, A class 50159 and 50223 were sold to the Weka Pass Railway in 2008 and AL 50090 was sold to the Midland Rail Heritage Trust in 2013. The wood-clad carriages are A 1327, built in 1913, with open vestibules and non-covered gangways. Dunedin Railways has three all-steel air-conditioned panorama carriages with open platform ends and open gangways, known locally as "Jungle Gyms" due to
392-629: Is governed according to its constitution by a board of directors comprising six people. Two of these people were selected by Dunedin City Holdings Limited, two by the Otago Excursion Train Trust and two jointly by both shareholding parties. On 1 December 2017, the company changed its name to Dunedin Railways Limited. The Taieri Gorge Limited is New Zealand's longest tourist railway and stretches along
441-685: Is now the Otago Central Rail Trail , a major cycling tourist attraction in the area. On 8 March 1995, the Dunedin City Council (through its holding company Dunedin City Holdings Limited) and the Trust incorporated a new company, Taieri Gorge Railway Limited. Dunedin City Holdings was a majority shareholder (72.03%) and the Trust held the balance of the shares (27.97%). The company operated as
490-430: Is the longest and tallest (47 m) bridge on the line. The railway remains in the Taieri Gorge for 25 km, crossing 16 major bridges with a total length of 1020 m and passing through 10 tunnels with a total length of 1491 m. Further notable viaducts along the way are Christmas Creek Viaduct, one of the curved viaducts, Deep Stream Viaduct, and Flat Stream Viaduct, also curved. Just before Hindon station,
539-651: The Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1901, they were the first locomotives in the world to be built with the wheel arrangement of 4-6-2 . This wheel arrangement came to be known as the Pacific type after the voyage the completed locomotives made across the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand. A few instances of the 4-6-2 wheel arrangement are known to have existed prior to 1901, but these were all reconstructions of locomotives that were originally built with
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#1732776105670588-531: The Main South Line south of Dunedin. After the branch line closed, the first four kilometres were retained in the national railway network as a service line to local industries. The Dunedin Railways (formerly known as Taieri Gorge Railway) line officially begins at the 4 km peg and shortly thereafter passes around a horseshoe curve at the foot of the Salisbury bank and begins a climb at 1 in 50 to
637-622: The South Island and the Waikato . Originally plans to equip the new locomotives with a Wootten firebox would have seen the " Camelback " configuration adopted. In operation, the locomotives proved to be satisfactory rather than brilliant and they suffered from occasional valve gear problems. They were soon displaced from the most important and difficult work by members of the A and A classes; in fact, later in life, they were re-boilered with A boilers. An improved slightly larger 'Q' type
686-533: The South Island of New Zealand . The company is a council-controlled trading organisation wholly owned by Dunedin City Council through its holding company Dunedin City Holdings Limited. The Otago Excursion Train Trust was formed in 1978 to operate excursions on the Otago Central Railway line, running its first train in October 1979. The services grew in popularity and the Trust realised by
735-480: The Strath Taieri plateau before reaching Middlemarch at 64 km. On the remaining line between Wingatui and Middlemarch, passing loops exist at North Taieri and Parera, service sidings at Mt Allen, and both passing loops and sidings at Hindon, Pukerangi and Middlemarch. In 2004 the line had two single-deck combined road and rail bridges; at Sutton and at Hindon (only combined in recent years). Initially
784-497: The Strath Taieri . It crosses a dozen viaducts and passes through ten tunnels. At Wingatui railway station , the original building and signal box from 1914 have been restored. After the line passes through the 437 metres (1,434 ft) long Salisbury Tunnel, the longest on the line, it crosses Mullocky Gully over the 197 metres (646 ft) long Wingatui Viaduct , the largest wrought iron structure in New Zealand since it
833-650: The Wairarapa Connection . The first of these, A 2325, was prepared at a cost of $ 45,000 and was ready in September 2008. The company anticipated having three carriages in service by the end of 2008, and all 12 by 2013. The upgrade included new seating, carpets, toilets and external paint. The railway intends to refurbish three carriages each year. As of December 2015, only five out of the twelve carriages have been restored. Two of these carriages have since been disposed of. In 2012, panoramic window car AO 77
882-686: The 1980s that it had great tourist potential. New carriages were acquired with the "Taieri Gorge Limited" launching in February 1987. On 19 December 1989, the New Zealand Railways Corporation announced the closure of the Otago Central railway line beyond Taieri owing to a lack of freight traffic following the completion of the Clyde Dam . Dunedin City Council then stepped in, purchasing the line as far as Middlemarch and five locomotives, which were then leased by
931-681: The 47-foot cars have been sold, while two were scrapped circa 1978. One carriage, A 1254, is owned by the Ocean Beach Railway (OBR) and is leased to Dunedin Railways. This carriage will be returned to the OBR at the conclusion of its lease. Dunedin Railways has currently three steel-clad and one wood-clad NZR 50-foot carriages , formerly used on Dunedin suburban trains and express passenger trains. The steel-clads have 30-37 seats, enclosed vestibules and covered gangways and were built by New Zealand Railways Department in 1931–40. One of these
980-580: The Hindon-Middlemarch section as well. In the financial year to June 2017, Dunedin Railways had revenues of NZ$ 6.578m and expenses of NZ$ 6.387m, and turned a profit of NZ$ 137,000. Following the COVID-19 pandemic of 2021, Dunedin Railways was losing NZ$ 1.5 million per annum. The railway owns seven former New Zealand Railways D class locomotives, four of which are currently operational and certified for mainline operation. They are painted in
1029-573: The Otago Excursion Train Trust) in 1990, their trains have primarily been operated by their fleet of six DJ class locomotives. The leased Silver Fern railcar (RM24) was used on the line, and very rarely, a steam locomotive excursions are operated, usually with an A class locomotive. Passenger services were introduced in 1900 and replaced with mixed trains in 1917, with passenger trains only running during holiday periods. Passenger trains were reinstated in 1936. One of these trains
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#17327761056701078-528: The South Island, and was used to move construction materials for the Clyde Dam project. With the completion of the dam in 1990, there was little other traffic for the line and the line was closed by the New Zealand Railways Corporation on 30 April 1990. The demolition of the line from Clyde back to Middlemarch commenced on 8 December 1990 and was completed on 5 December 1991. The section from Wingatui on
1127-564: The Taieri Gorge Railway and the Otago Excursion Train Trust had taken tourists on scenic rail excursions up the Taieri Gorge to Middlemarch and more recently up the coast, north of Dunedin on the Seasider . The reason for the change was so that tourists can link the train trips to Dunedin and it makes it much clearer what the railway is. AO 77 was the first carriage to be repainted into their new blue livery with their name on
1176-642: The Trust to run its trains. The Trust continued to operate the Taieri Gorge Limited, now with its own locomotives ( DJ class locomotives withdrawn by NZR in the same year), but needed a further NZ$ 1 million to fund its operations. A community appeal in 1990 raised NZ$ 1.2 million. The line beyond Middlemarch on the Otago Central Branch was lifted during 1991, and the trackbed handed over to the Department of Conservation in 1993. It
1225-696: The coast through Waitati to Seacliff, and The Victorian is an all-day trip to the North Otago town of Oamaru. Special services also run, including the Christmas Inlander in December and the addition of Quiz Trains in 2023. 2024 saw the addition of The Stargazer, a trip to Hindon for an evening of star gazing hosted by the Dunedin Astronomical Society . Dunedin Railways also operates the Seasider tourist train along
1274-604: The coast to Waitati , north of Dunedin. Following the withdrawal of the Southerner by Tranz Scenic in 2002, it is the only passenger train on the Main South Line . In 2012, Dunedin Railways leased one of the Silver Fern class railcars from KiwiRail for use on the same route as the Seasider. On 23 October 2014, the Taieri Gorge Railway announced that it would be changing its name to Dunedin Railways. For 35 years,
1323-543: The decision to mothball Dunedin Railways, the Otago Excursion Train Trust sold its shares in the company to the council in April 2020. In May 2021, Dunedin City Council agreed to keep the Taieri Gorge line as far as Hindon in operation, as well as services on KiwiRail's railway lines. In November 2021, the council agreed to extend support through to 2024. In 2023, the council decided to reactivate
1372-529: The early 1990s and is not mainline certified, instead of being based at the TGR works depot at the 4 km peg. It previously carried a modified International Orange scheme but was repainted in 2006 to its original livery of Carnation Red with the addition of "wasp stripes" on the headstocks as it would have carried in the 1970s. In 2013, Dunedin Railways leased Silver Fern railcar RM24 from KiwiRail and operated this on trips between Dunedin and Waitati. The railcar
1421-655: The former Otago Central Railway from the 4 km peg on the Taieri Branch , 18 km west of Dunedin , to Middlemarch , a distance of 60 kilometres (37 mi). Between Dunedin and the start of the line, its trains operate on KiwiRail's Main South Line via a running rights agreement. The line travels along the banks of the Taieri River , through numerous tunnels and along the Taieri Gorge to
1470-447: The introduction of these locomotives on 26 February 1968 the remaining A class steam engines were withdrawn. D class diesels worked the line from 1978 to 1984 but being fewer in number were seen less often than the Ds, which were the mainstay of the line until its closure in 1990. After the line to Middlemarch was taken over by Dunedin Railways (previously Taieri Gorge Railway and originally
1519-543: The latter two locations. Hindon , still operating as a crossing station, is typically one of the stopping points on the trip. Just before the station, the railway tracks share a combined road-rail bridge with Hindon Road. Another stopping point for photo opportunities is the Deep Stream viaduct. Here the line slowly starts to climb higher and out of the gorge, passing over the Flat Stream viaduct, and "The Notches",
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1568-569: The line as late as 1915. The ten U class locomotives were all allocated to Dunedin and were the mainstay of the line from the 1900s to the 1930s and B and B class engines were used occasionally. Q class engines worked the line in the 1940s. A class locomotives were introduced in 1936. The OCR was one of the first sections of the NZR system to be fully dieselised. The last regular steam-hauled train left Cromwell on 23 February 1968. Two steam excursion trains later conveyed photographers along parts of
1617-486: The line was worked by Public Works Department F class tank engines. The Railways Department used R class locomotives until 1895 when 2-8-0 T class tender engines were introduced. They were still in service in 1905. O and P class locomotives were regularly used as were 2-6-2 V class engines. The O class engines were transferred to the North Island between 1898 and 1902. The P class engines were still working
1666-473: The line: A 777 to Ranfurly on 27 October 1968 and A 693 to Middlemarch on 5 April 1969. D class diesel-electric locomotives were introduced on the line in February 1957 running as far as Clyde. They were reclassed as D in 1968 and were withdrawn by 1983. The D and D engines were too heavy to run on the lighter rails of the Cromwell Gorge but the much lighter D class diesel locomotives (with 10.3 tonne axle loading) were allowed to run through to Cromwell. With
1715-532: The maximum size of rolling stock that can operate on the railway; some freight wagons cannot use the line. 45°52′31″S 170°30′32″E / 45.87528°S 170.50889°E / -45.87528; 170.50889 NZR Q class (1901) The NZR Q class was an important steam locomotive class not only in the history of New Zealand 's railway network but also in worldwide railways in general. Designed by New Zealand Government Railways ' (NZR) Chief Mechanical Engineer A. L. Beattie and ordered from
1764-481: The nature of their framework when under construction. These were designed and built by the OETT in 1987–92, with a "very distinctive shape to fit the tunnels". Two of these carriages were built on Z class "roadsider" freight van underframes while the third was built on the underframe of guard's van F 529. In September 2007, the Taieri Gorge Railway announced that it had purchased 12 NZR 56-foot carriages formerly used on
1813-639: The outskirts of Dunedin and to Middlemarch became a tourist railway, operated by Dunedin Railways . The remainder of the line was lifted and the trackbed developed into the Otago Central Rail Trail . Dunedin Railways Dunedin Railways (formerly the Taieri Gorge Railway ) is the trading name of Dunedin Railways Limited, an operator of a railway line and tourist trains based at Dunedin Railway Station in
1862-579: The possibility of introducing log haulage between Mount Allan and Port Chalmers at the end of the Port Chalmers Branch . However, on 12 June 2007, it was announced that a cost difference of NZ$ 5 million existed between road and rail haulage in favour of road, and potential government subsidies were insufficient to close the gap. The announcement was met with disappointment by the Dunedin City Council, which favourably viewed
1911-521: The rail option as it was more environmentally friendly and would have reduced traffic congestion. It has since been worked out that with extra damage caused by the logging trucks on the Mosgiel to Port Chalmers road that it would have been cheaper to perform the operation by rail, but despite pleas by the local council, Wenita, the relevant company, said it had invested too much in the road option to change its plans. The route's loading gauge restricts
1960-429: The railway tracks share a combined road-rail bridge with Hindon Road, a local backroad. After Flat Stream Viaduct, the aptly named "The Notches" section also presented an engineering challenge, accomplished via three short bridges and cuttings through several rocky outcrops. In the second half of the gorge section the line climbs steadily to exit the gorge at Pukerangi (45 km, 254 m altitude) and then descends into
2009-467: The sides in October 2014. This was followed by A 3022 and AG 239. In September 2015, A 1695 was repainted into their yellow version of livery. On 20 April 2020, the company announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand , it mothballed its track and equipment. The company said up to 80% of its revenue came from international tourists. The mothballing could affect up to 51 jobs. Following
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2058-403: The summit at 145 m, where it passes through the 437 metres (1,434 ft) long Salisbury Tunnel, the longest on the line. After a second tunnel, the railway runs along Mullocky Gully, crossing it over the 197 metres (646 ft) long Wingatui Viaduct , before joining the Taieri Gorge . Wingatui Viaduct has been the largest wrought iron structure in New Zealand since it was built in 1887 and
2107-419: Was a static display. An eighth, DJ3044 (D 1204) was acquired from Mainline Steam in 2012 as a source of spare parts and has been dismantled. Both were painted in the modified blue scheme and were purchased in a withdrawn condition. TGR also operates one D class locomotive, D 504 (TMS DE1337). This locomotive was acquired from Otago Polytechnic (who had acquired it from New Zealand Railways Corporation) in
2156-501: Was built in 1887. The 47 m tall viaduct's riveted truss structure rests on seven concrete and masonry piers. Shortly after the Wingatui Viaduct, the route emerges from Mullocky Gully to join Taieri Gorge, and from then on follows that gorge above Taieri River to just east of Pukerangi. On the way the line passes former stations Parera, Mount Allen, Little Mount Allen, and Christmas Creek, crossing two curved viaducts at
2205-562: Was followed by the 16 km section from Hyde to Kokonga which opened in 1897. The section to Ranfurly opened in December 1898. The Ranfurly to Wedderburn section opened in 1900 followed by the Wedderburn to Ida Valley section which opened in 1901. The line was opened to Omakau in 1904. Omakau-Chatto Creek opened in July 1906 followed by the line reaching Alexandra in December 1906. The line was opened to Clyde in April 1907. There then followed
2254-641: Was involved in the Hyde railway disaster of 4 June 1943, which claimed 21 lives and was at the time New Zealand's worst railway disaster (since surpassed only by the Tangiwai disaster ). The passenger trains were again replaced with mixed trains in 1951, in turn replaced with Vulcan railcars in 1956. The railcar run was cut back to Alexandra in May 1958 and railcars ceased running on 25 April 1976. The line remained open for some time longer than most other branch lines in
2303-469: Was leased from KiwiRail . It has since been repainted in Dunedin Railways' blue livery and is now under their ownership. Privately owned A 3022 is leased from its owners since 2013. In 2018, Dunedin Railways purchased six big-window AO/ASO class carriages from KiwiRail . Two of these have since been converted to all-steel framing and reclassified as ADR. In the early 2000s, the TGR investigated
2352-526: Was ordered from Baldwins in 1914, but classified A due to their dimensions similar to the A class. In a 1902 trial of various locomotives between Invercargill and Gore, the Q class with large fire-grate area "gave the most efficient results" of the larger locomotives. They saw out their final years working in Otago and the West Coast and the last Q class locomotive was retired in 1957. No examples of
2401-932: Was returned to KiwiRail in 2019. Dunedin Railways formerly operated a shunting locomotive, T 111 at their Dunedin depot as their resident shunting locomotive. This locomotive was obtained by the Otago Excursion Train Trust in 2009 from enthusiast Reid McNaught, who had leased the locomotive to Dunedin Railways since 2006. It was sold to the Canterbury Railway Society in July 2015. All trains as of January 2017 include some of Dunedin Railways five former New Zealand Railways 47" 6' foot wooden-clad carriages. These cars are known as " Scarrett' " heritage carriages and were built between 1912 and 1923 with open platform ends, gangways and 37 seats. Dunedin Railways has started retiring these carriages largely to provide bogies for their 56-foot carriage stock, which did not have their own bogies when they were purchased. Two of
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