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35-527: The Rotorua Express was introduced when the Rotorua Branch line was opened through to its Rotorua terminus. The first train to use the new line was an express from Auckland on 8 December 1894 led by two original J class steam locomotives ; the trip had taken 8 hours and 40 minutes to reach Rotorua and travelled at an average speed of less than 30 km/h (19 mph). Later in December 1894,

70-569: A new twice daily tourist-oriented service called the Geyserland Express was initiated, using Silver Fern railcars. This service lasted a decade and ceased in 2001. Freight on the line previously comprised forestry and livestock products railed north from Rotorua. Train loads north were limited by the Tārukenga Bank west of Rotorua between Ngongotahā and Mamaku, with a steep ruling gradient of 1 in 35. In 1995 Tranz Rail launched

105-553: A railway between Tauranga and Rotorua, but this did not eventuate. The Rotorua line in its original form was a mainline which ran from Morrinsville through to Rotorua. With the opening of the Kaimai Tunnel in 1978, the section of line between Morrinsville and Waharoa became part of the East Coast Main Trunk line between Hamilton and Kawerau, whilst the section of line between Waharoa and Kinleith became

140-513: A regular express commenced but ran only once a week, departing Rotorua at 9am Monday for Auckland, and returning from Auckland at 9am Tuesday. These trains were typically hauled by members of the J and L classes. For the winter months of 1895, the Rotorua Express did not operate; passengers had to travel on thrice weekly mixed trains , which were slow freight trains with a passenger carriage attached. The Rotorua Express returned for

175-805: A regular passenger train service returned to Rotorua, when the Geyserland Express commenced operating. Rotorua Branch The Rotorua Branch is a railway line from Putāruru to Rotorua , in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions of the North Island of New Zealand . Construction of the line was commenced by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company and finished by the Public Works Department (PWD). The complete line, 50.5 kilometres (31.4 mi) in length, opened in two sections; on 24 November 1893 to Tārukenga and

210-475: A replacement railcar service began, utilising 88 seater railcars . The railcars ran every day except Sunday and completed the journey in 5 hours 10 minutes, but the 88 seaters were plagued by mechanical problems and last ran on 11 November 1968. As a replacement train was considered to be an unprofitable option, the NZR Road Services buses took over all passenger traffic. It was not until 1991 that

245-625: A station at Mamaku and plan to build another in Rotorua when services are extended there. Many sections of the western track from Mamaku towards Putāruru have been lifted or are heavily overgrown and not used. The lower portions of the track in Putāruru where it branches off the Kinleith Branch are heavily overgrown with gorse and blackberry - some sections have been commandeered by neighbouring businesses for temporary storage, in other places

280-493: The Great Depression and were converted into ordinary carriages. The service was involved in an accident with a car on 25 October 1933, which killed police constable James Shields, a passenger in a police car at a rail crossing near Huntly. In November 1937, the service lost its Limited status and reverted to being the Rotorua Express , but its popularity surged. The conditions imposed by World War II meant that

315-572: The Kinleith Branch line. The section of line between Putāruru and Rotorua becoming the Rotorua Branch line. The line from Rotorua was planned to become part of a line being built from Gisborne to link with Auckland via Te Teko and Rotorua. A Gisborne-Rotorua Line from Makaraka to Mōtū of about 37 miles (60 km) was authorised by the Railways Authorisation Act, 1904. Only the Gisborne end of this proposed line

350-597: The Mamaku Ranges . The company only ever completed the section between Morrinsville and Tīrau (called Oxford at that time), and this opened on 8 March 1886. The Government took over its operations in 1886. From this time onwards, PWD undertook construction of the line, letting it in a series of contracts from March 1887, Daniel Fallon's Ngātira (12.41 km (7.71 mi)) and Kaponga ( Mamaku ) (17.08 km (10.61 mi)) contracts being first, then John Maclean and Sons to Tārukenga (7.83 km (4.87 mi)),

385-597: The N and Q classes. The express soon became one of the most prestigious in New Zealand when dining cars were introduced in December 1903. Few services in New Zealand have ever run with dining cars; this was the first to be catered by Railways Department staff rather than outside contractors and they lasted for fourteen years. Economic difficulties imposed by World War I meant that the dining cars were withdrawn in 1917 and never returned; instead, an extended stop

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420-660: The "Bay Raider" service, utilising roadrailer wagons able to run on rail and road, to connect Auckland, Rotorua, Napier and Gisborne. Between Rotorua and Napier the road railers operated in "road" mode. The forestry industry operated numerous sawmills on the branch line; the largest was at Mamaku , which had its own bush tramway connecting to the NZR line. The branch had 4 tramways connected to it, run by Gamman, Bartholomew Timber, South Taranaki and Selwyn Timber. For many years after World War II sheep and cattle from land developments south of Rotorua were railed by special stock trains to

455-466: The Port of Tauranga and Bay of Plenty", which recommended: The proposal created much attention both in support and against the idea, in particular with the proposed siting of new marshalling yards at Ngapuna, together with extending the existing Rotorua Branch line with a level crossing across Fenton Street. The proposal became a hot political debate and by 1973 NZR started to back down on the proposal and

490-485: The eastern section from the summit at Mamaku towards Rotorua is used by Mamaku-based adventure tourism company Rail Riders. Working with KiwiRail and the Rotorua-Ngongotaha Rail Trust, the company operates its New Zealand-designed and built "rail cruisers" on a section of the branch line between Mamaku and Tarukenga (since 2011), with plans to later extend to Rotorua-Mamaku. They have constructed

525-493: The final 8 mi 43 ch (13.7 km) to Rotorua on 8 December 1894. The line was partially constructed by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company. The company began planning of the line from 1877, following the passing of the District Railways Act 1877. Construction of the Rotorua line did not begin until after its survey, from 1881. The survey took 12 months to find a suitable route to Rotorua over

560-485: The large abattoirs or freezing works in the South Auckland suburbs of Westfield and Southdown. Now there are local freezing works served by road transport, and stock numbers (particularly sheep) have reduced. The stations were - (Kaponga until 4/6/1892) (reopened July 1991-10/12/2001) (reopened July 1991-10/12/2001) (reopened July 1991-10/12/2001) In 1989 the Rotorua central city station and rail yard

595-583: The line being stolen. In 2012, the Rotorua District Council demolished the Lake Road overbridge at Koutu to enable the widening of Lake Road to four lanes, to be built across the railway line at this locality. The new four-lane road was built over the top of the track, which now separates the former Koutu freight yard from the mainline. The bridge had been built in 1937 to replace a level crossing. New Zealand Railways Corporation still own

630-563: The line between Putaruru and Rotorua, which put the cost of doing so at $ 8.3 million. Work required included: The interested parties planned to establish a working group to determine the level of demand and economic feasibility of services on the line. In December 2009 KiwiRail leased the Rotorua Branch line (Putaruru - Koutu) to the Rotorua Ngongotaha Rail Trust, which has since worked on plans to turn

665-492: The line could be relaid to a proposed new passenger station in the central city on the corner of Ranolf and Amohau Streets, which was being pursued by the Second Chance Train Trust and the Rotorua District Council. In June 1995 the Rotorua District Council considered a report for building a new terminal, but the new station never eventuated. During the late 1990s traffic on the line gradually declined with

700-507: The line there being opened on 24 November 1893. The line from Tārukenga to Rotorua (14.05 km (8.73 mi)) was begun by Stewart and Hunter in 1887. The section to Lichfield on what is now the Kinleith Branch line was opened just before the Mount Tarawera eruption (21 June 1886). The line to Rotorua was opened by Prime Minister, Richard Seddon , on Saturday 8 December 1894. In 1879 George Vesey Stewart and others proposed

735-569: The onset of the Great Depression , work ceased a year later in 1929. In 1968 NZR announced a proposal to construct a new line to Rotorua from Paengaroa on the East Coast Main Trunk, with an extension to the Waipa State Mill. An extension to Taupo was also seen by NZR "as being very attractive". This proposal followed from the recommendations of a 1963 Commission of Inquiry report to investigate "Improved Access by Land to

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770-413: The peak Christmas, summer, and Easter period and now operated thrice weekly in each direction. This arrangement continued until 1899, when the Rotorua Express began operating every week of the entire year. The Rotorua Express has the distinction of being the first express passenger train in the world to be hauled by Pacific locomotives , when Q349 hauled it out of Auckland on Christmas Eve, 1901. This

805-480: The rail corridor across the road south through to Pukuatua Street. The former rail corridor south of Pukuatua Street has since been relinquished and now been developed over in conjunction with a retail development on the neighbouring former Telecom depot site. On 13 January 2009, the Geyserland Express Trust announced that it had commissioned and received a report on the feasibility of reopening

840-469: The scheme fell through shortly after. Two named passenger services operated on the line. The Rotorua Express was initiated in 1894 and in 1930 became the Rotorua Limited - the most prestigious train in New Zealand at that time. The service later reverted to the Rotorua Express with more stops; and in 1959 was replaced by 88-seater Fiat railcars . This railcar service ceased in 1968. In 1991

875-595: The service being further reduced to just twice weekly in 1951, patronage plummeted in favour of the more regular bus service operated by the New Zealand Railways Road Services .Nonetheless, the Express continued to operate almost until the end of the 1950s, when only 6,342 tickets were sold in Rotorua, in contrast to 35,554 in 1929. The Express' s final run was on 6 February 1959 when a Friday service operated to Auckland. Three days later,

910-575: The shunting required in Morrinsville. A severe coal shortage in June 1919 led to the service being cancelled altogether for six months, with the only passenger option a 12-hour-long journey by mixed train. When the Express returned in December 1919, it reverted to operating independently of the Thames Express . The A class locomotives were introduced to the Rotorua Express in 1925, and

945-428: The superiority of these locomotives over prior ones as well as the raising of the speed limit to 80 km/h (50 mph) meant that the service took just 6 hours 40 minutes to run to Auckland and 10 minutes longer in the opposite direction. From 5 May 1930, reduced stops ( Putāruru , Matamata , Morrinsville , Hamilton , Frankton Junction , Pukekohe , and Newmarket ) allowed the schedule to be cut to six hours and

980-464: The train became known as the Rotorua Limited. As part of its upgrade in status from Express to Limited , it became the first passenger train in New Zealand to use the new 50-foot carriages with steel panelling and enclosed vestibules . Two observation cars with lounge chairs were trialled on the service at this time, but they did not prove successful due to the economic climate created by

1015-482: The twice-daily Geyserland Express railcar service being reduced in 1995 to a daily service with twice-daily services on Fridays and Sundays only, and in 1996 reduced to a daily service on all days. The nightly Bay Raider freight service was cancelled in 2000 and the Geyserland Express was cancelled in 2001. Since this time the line has fallen into disrepair, with slips, overgrown vegetation and sections of

1050-621: The unused corridor and track into a tourism venture. The trust has restored part of the line and did initially have discussions with the Rotorua District Council to assist with its plans to continue the national cycleway system in the District at the time of acquiring the line. The trust hopes that when the line is fully repaired, it will be possible for freight and passenger services to resume, with steam enthusiast operators from around New Zealand, able to bring their own excursion trains to Rotorua. The line remains closed to heavy rail traffic, while

1085-614: The volume of passengers surged to record numbers. The trains as a result became heavier, so the A locomotives were accordingly replaced by the newer, more powerful locomotives of the K and then J classes, followed by the J class in the 1950s. Despite the heavy demand for services, the Railways Department cut the Rotorua Express to run just thrice weekly each way in January 1944 because of coal shortages. This harmed demand, and when additional economic difficulties led to

Rotorua Express - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-468: Was closed and, along with the last 2 km of the line, removed and relocated to a new site at Koutu. The Geyserland Express railcar service initially terminated in the Koutu freight yard until a small temporary passenger station operated by the Second Chance Train Trust opened on the northern side of the Lake Road overbridge in 1995. The new passenger station at Koutu was intended as temporary measure until

1155-634: Was made at Frankton to allow passengers to purchase a meal. By 1917, the service ran to a schedule of seven hours and motive power was provided by the A class , but a few months after the removal of the dining cars, manpower shortages caused by the War led to the Rotorua Express being combined with the Thames Express for the run between Auckland and Morrinsville , where they were split to run to their separate termini. This combined service required 7 hours and 40 minutes to reach Rotorua, in part due to

1190-504: Was started, which later became known as the Moutohora Branch and the proposal to connect it with Auckland was later changed to be with the East Coast Main Trunk line via Tauranga, following a 1911 survey. Extension of the line to Taupō had been proposed several times over the years, primarily to take advantage of forestry traffic from the region. One such proposal got as far as the construction phase in 1928, however, due to

1225-456: Was the start of a worldwide trend, with such trains as the 20th Century Limited , Orient Express , Flying Scotsman and many more all sporting such locomotives of the type in later years. The world's fastest steam locomotive , is also of the same type. In October 1902, the Rotorua Express became a daily service, taking 7.5 hours on the run to Auckland and nearly eight in the opposite direction. Locomotives used on this service were members of

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