Denniston is a small settlement in the northwestern South Island of New Zealand. It is located on a small plateau 600 metres above sea level, 18 kilometres north east from Westport. South Island The South Island forms one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ... Westport is a town in the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. ...
Today, Denniston is little more than a ghost town, with a population of less than 50. During the early years of the 20th century, its population was close to 2000, due to the large coalmine close to the town. A street corner in the ghost town of Bodie, California. ... Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open-pit mining or strip mining. ... The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, usually (but not always) from an ore body, vein, or (coal) seam. ...
The town's main claim to fame was its mine railway, the infamous Denniston Incline.
Opened in 1879 and running until the mid 1960s, the Incline was gravity operated, with full loads of coal descending returning empty wagons to the plateau. It fell 510 metres in just 1.7 kilometres, down grades which at times were over 1:1.30. Understandably, the system led to many accidents, frequently with loss of life. 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1960s. ...
External links
NZ Institute of Professional Engineers Heritage page on Denniston Incline
Photos of Denniston and the coalhead as it is today
Today, Denniston is little more than a ghost town, with a population of less than 50.
During the early years of the 20th century, its population was close to 2000, due to the large coalmine close to the town.
Opened in 1879 and running until the mid 1960s, the Incline was gravity operated, with full loads of coal descending returning empty wagons to the plateau.
On the Upper Incline it was as steep as 1 in 1.69.
The fall from the bins at Denniston to Conn's Creek at the foot of the incline was 1,700 feet and the length of the track was 83 chains.
In "The News", Westport's community newspaper, on Monday, November 17, 2003, Mr Arthur Allot who had worked on the Incline said that the brakeman's job was to regulate the huge water-powered pistons by altering their water supply to alter the brake's drive.
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