The New Zealand Midland Railway Company was a private railway in New Zealand and partially constructed the Midland Line between Christchurch, Greymouth and Nelson in the South Island. The Midland line is a famous 212 km section of railway between Christchurch (Rolleston) and Greymouth in New Zealand. ... Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the third largest city in the country. ... Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region on the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. ... A view of Nelson from the Centre of New Zealand Whakatu/Nelson stands on the southern corner of Tasman Bay in Te Tau Ihu O Te Waka O Maui (the northern end of the South Island), Aotearoa (New Zealand) and is the administrative centre for Nelson Province. ... The South Island The South Island is one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ...

History

In the 1880s, New Zealand was in depression and the Government was in no position to make further investment in railways, so the East and West Coast and Nelson Railway Act was passed to enable the railway to be built and operated by private enterprise and a deputation of Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson, Alan Scott and C.Y. Fell visited London to interest financiers in promoting a company.

In July 1885 the deputation accepted an offer from a committee which was to become the New Zealand Midland Railway Company. The company contracted with the Government to build 235 miles (376 km) of railway between Christchurch and Nelson via Brunnerton (later Brunner) within ten years but with insufficient capital and a London management remote from the realities of railway construction in New Zealand it had little chance of success. The company commenced construction from Brunner, the Nelson line heading up the Grey Valley towards Reefton while the Christchurch line diverged from it at Stillwater. It was not until 1890 that work commenced at the Canterbury end: the contract for the 5.5 miles from Springfield to Pattersons Creek being let to J. & A. Anderson Ltd of Christchurch. The work was to include steel viaducts over the Kowai River and Pattersons Creeks. Brunner is a town in the northwest of New Zealands South Island, with a population of somewhat under 1000 people. ...

Inevitably the company ran out of money and all construction ceased in 1895. On the Springfield section only the Kowai bridges and 4.5 miles to track to Otarama was usable as a railway. The foundations for Pattersons Creek viaduct were in place but the steel superstructure still had to be manufactured and erected. Springfield is a small town in the province of Canterbury, South Island, New Zealand. ...

In 1894, after lengthy litigation, the Government seized the company’s assets and completed works, on the grounds that the contract had expired with the works incomplete. Legal argument and court actions between the parties ensued and it was not until 1898 that the Public Works Department took over and resumed the works.

Motive power

The company operated mainly 4-4-2 tank locomotives. The first five locomotives, built by Nasmyth Wilson in 1887 When the Company was acquired by the New Zealand Railways Department in 1900, these locomotives were classed La class. The last locomotive was classified as a D class. A 15 gauge 4-4-2 operating on the Riverside and Great Northern Railway in Wisconsin Dells, WI. In the Whyte notation a 4-4-2 is a steam locomotive that has a two-axle leading truck, two powered driving axles and a one-axle trailing truck. ... The New Zealand Railways Department, or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways), often known as the Railways, was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealands rail infrastructure. ...