The Nelson section was an isolated government-owned railway line between Nelson and Glenhope in the Tasman district of New Zealand's South Island. While part of the New Zealand Government Railways, the section was never connected to the national railway network, although there were plans to do so. The line operated for years between 1876 and 1955. Unusually for an isolated line, there were passenger and freight services for most of its existence, with freight outlasting passenger services by just a year.
This line is noteworthy for several reasons, including being the last completely isolated section of the government-owned railway network; gaining a reprieve after being closed for the first time until being closed for a second – and final – time; and, its route was chosen to serve existing communities in Nelson's hinterland rather than being constructed to open up new areas for development or serve specific industries.
History Nelson was founded as a New Zealand Company settlement in 1842, and became the capital of the Nelson Province following the creation of the provinces of New Zealand in 1853. Initially, provincial councils were responsible for building railways, and the first in Nelson was the privately funded and constructed railway of the Dun Mountain Company, opening in 1862. The first steam-operated railway opened between Christchurch and Ferrymead in 1863.
Background It was the early success of the Dun Mountain Company that first prompted suggestions of a railway to link Nelson with the West Coast town of Cobden. In May 1862, Fedor Kelling, the Nelson Provincial Council member for Waimea West, requested a feasibility study for a line from Nelson to the Wairoa River bridge. When the council agreed, Abraham Fitzgibbon – previously associated with the Dun Mountain Railway – was appointed to do the work. He chose a route that had the line leaving Nelson via Jenkins Hill (modern-day Bishopdale), and also planned a branch line to the end of Parkers Road where he envisaged a branch line terminating at a port. Though the select committee examining the idea was left in no doubt as to the economic benefits of such a railway, they were equally cognizant of the debt that would be required to fund it.
It was only later that, on reports of a gold rush on the west coast, the matter was considered again by the council, enthusiastically supported by Fedor Kelling. The committee decided on a line to Cobden, with a branch line to Westport, along the Buller River. Financing for the project was to come in part from a land grant scheme, whereby of land would be granted for every of progress on the line. Later that year, the General Assembly passed the Nelson, Cobden and Westport Railway Land Act, authorising the reservation of the necessary land.
It was decided to engage the services of an expert to examine the matter. For this task, Henry Wrigg, an Auckland civil engineer, was hired to survey the route. He completed the work between September 1867 and January 1868 in appalling weather, which did give him the advantage of seeing the area at its worst. When he presented his report to the council the following 1 April, he enthusiastically supported the project and was confident that construction should take only three years with work starting simultaneously at Nelson, Cobden and Westport.
Though the financial requirements of such a project were beyond the means of both the provincial and central governments at the time, it was suggested that a British firm be engaged to finance, construct and own the line as had already been successfully done in other developing nations. As a further incentive, Wrigg suggested that the Brunner coal mine be given to the successful tenderer as an immediate and certain source of income.
When the authorisation legislation was submitted to the General Assembly, it did not include a provision for the gifting of the coal mine, which the provincial council was reluctant to relinquish, nor was Wrigg included in the deputation that was sent to England to solicit interest in the project.
John Morrison, a London-based businessman, was appointed by the council to act as their agent in accordance with the authorising Act. Assisted by former colonial governor Sir George Grey and engineer Fitzgibbon, he set about trying to find financiers to fund the project. Though he met with much early disappointment and scepticism, he eventually found such a group headed by Alexander Brogden. Morrison wrote of the good news to Superintendent Oswald Curtis who was able to put the letter before the council two months later.
This was as far as the project got thanks to the intervention of two unrelated events. On the day the contract was due to be signed, 19 July 1870, France declared war on Prussia, an event that caused such uncertainty that the investors were no longer willing to commit to such an undertaking. In June, it was announced that the Colonial Treasurer, Sir Julius Vogel, planned to borrow £10,000,000 over ten years to finance the Great Public Works policy. It was expected that well-funded government contracts would soon be available thus depriving the Nelson scheme of its former lustre for the private investor.
Construction The line was opened in stages to regular traffic over a period of years between 1876 and 1926. This included several periods of inactivity, as well as a change in the route after Belgrove had been reached.
Nelson–Foxhill Before work could begin on the Nelson–Foxhill section of the route, it was necessary to pass through the General Assembly empowering legislation, which could not happen before a survey had been completed. This was done by August 1871, when the surveyor Albert Austin was able to forward his plans and estimates to the Colonial Secretary, William Gisborne. He attached an appraisal in which he noted that the Stoke–Foxhill section would present few problems and that the hard part would be in choosing a route out of Nelson, for which he had chosen two routes for consideration: Beach Line: Cost estimated at £77,361, and would depart from a terminus in Trafalgar Street for the Port, from whence it would run along the shoreline until turning in towards Stoke. Features would include a seawall and a tunnel at Rocky Point. Advantages would include little contact with town property and direct access to the port. Jenkins Hill Line: Cost estimate £82,344, and would begin in Hardy Street, run through the Toi Toi Valley, and over Jenkins Hill (now Bishopdale) to Stoke. This route would have required a substantial amount of money be paid to affected landowners over whose town property the line would have to pass. Other features of this route would include steep gradients and sharp curves in the saddle area. As constructed, there was a steep 1 in 35 grade up the Bishopdale Hill. Beach Line (variant): Very similar to the Beach Line proposal, except for the Rocky Point tunnel being replaced with a longer tunnel which would pass through more stable ground. While more expensive up front, it was expected that this would save more money in the long run.
On the basis of this survey, a bill could now proceed through the House of Representatives. It was therefore with much delight in Nelson when the local newspaper, The Nelson Evening Mail, announced on 10 November:
By the end of the month, the Nelson section, along with 3 other lines, had been authorised by legislation. It would be a year before the Governor would officiate the "turning-of-the-first-sod" ceremony.
Austin embarked on the process of preparing the working surveys and estimates, which would take him until August 1872 to complete. Despite this progress, there was unease within Nelson province with regard to the fact that contracts had yet to be awarded for work on the line. When it was announced on 10 August that nine contracts had been let for railway construction but that the Nelson line was not among them, Nelsonians were left to wonder if the government had broken its promises. As it turned out, the problem for the authorities was in deciding on a route out of Nelson. While Austin was tasked with investigating the matter further, tenders were called for the section from Stoke to Foxhill and steps were taken to acquire the necessary land. The successful tenderer for the Waimea contract was a local firm by the name of Scott and Robinson.
Though the official turning of the first sod ceremony took place on 6 May 1873, sub-contractors who started at the end of the line began work a month earlier on 7 April. The official ceremony was officiated by Superintendent of the Nelson Province Oswald Curtis who declared the day to be a public holiday. Around 3,000 people attended the proceedings at Saxton's field, about south of Stoke.
The choice of a route for the line out of Nelson still had to be made and, though it was well known that the authorities favoured the Jenkin's Hill route, the Inland Communication Committee was convinced that the coastal route was the better option. In order to resolve the matter, the Minister of Public Works was prevailed upon on 28 July by a deputation from Nelson to make a decision. On 7 November the committee received a letter stating that the Jenkin's Hill route had been chosen.
The contract for the Nelson–Stoke section was let on 16 March 1874 to the Bray Bros. on which they started work nine days later. One of the few noted benefits of this route was the discovery a month later in one of the cuttings of a small seam of coal.
The line presented few engineering problems and included only one sizeable bridge, but by early 1875 there was still some formation work unfinished. By this time, however, rolling stock was being built, rails were being laid, and station buildings erected. Progress improved noticeably after the first engine was fired on 3 May and work trains could then be used to haul rails and ballast to the railhead as it advanced.
The Nelson station was built where the Toi Toi and Washington Valleys met on what had been an undeveloped mudflat. To make the land usable, 15,000 cubic metres of fill was excavated from a hill off Hardy Street to form the yard. Once the land was prepared, sleepers and rails which had been in storage in St. Vincent Street were laid and a class 4 Vogel-type station building was erected.
Opening of the Line
As the line neared completion, trial runs were conducted and on 17 November 1875 30 passengers were conveyed to the Wakefield terminus as guests of Austin. In early December, another group was conveyed to Richmond to evaluate seven recently completed carriages.
With only minor work still to be completed, the line was due to be opened in January 1876. There was little local enthusiasm, and with a Mail report on 27 January exclaiming: "People have been so deceived, misled and disappointed with regard to this line that its opening is not likely to call forth any great display of enthusiasm", it is no surprise that there was such little effort put into marking the occasion.
Accounts of the opening were reported in both the Nelson Evening Mail and The Colonist. The Evening Mail reported, ″That portion of the Nelson and Foxhill railway commencing at the Toi-Toi Valley mudflat and terminating at Wakefield, a distance of about 20 miles, was formally opened by his honor the Superintendent [] on Saturday″ (January 29, 1876). An initial service for invited guests only departed Nelson at about 11am, and ″arrived at the Wakefield terminus at a quarter to one″ (Evening Mail) or ″arrived at the station called Fox Hill at about twenty minutes to one o'clock″ (The Colonist). A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the station. After lunch, the return train journey began at 3:30pm, arriving back in Nelson at 4:45pm.
Another Nelson Evening Mail article states, ″The Nelson and Wakefield Railway is to be opened to the public on Monday″ (31 January 1876). The article continues with a table of stations and fares: