The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway (sometimes erroneously called the Opua Branch, once the Otiria-Opua Industrial Line) is a former section of the North Auckland Line in the Northland Region of New Zealand between Kawakawa and the Bay of Islands township of Opua. The first section was constructed as a bush tramway in 1868 and converted to a railway the next decade. Today, the railway is disused but the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway aims to restore services in the near future. The North Auckland Line is a major railway line in New Zealands national rail network. ... The Northland Region, one of the regions of New Zealand, is, as the name suggests, the northernmost of New Zealands administrative regions. ... Kawakawa is a small town in the Northland region of northern New Zealand. ... Russell, Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland region of the North Island of New Zealand. ... // NZ National Rail Network These are lines that are part of the national network currently owned by New Zealand Railways Corporation, a government company trading as ONTRACK. Most of them were constructed by national or local government bodies of New Zealand from 1863 onwards. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

The line's notable claim to fame is the fact that it runs directly down the main street of Kawakawa. Kawakawa is a small town in the Northland Region of northern New Zealand. ...

Construction

In 1868, the first part was constructed. Coal was mined near Kawakawa, and accordingly, a tramway was built to carry the coal from Kawakawa to the coast so that it could be shipped from the wharf in Taumarere. The line's gauge was 4 feet 8.5 inches (1435 mm), the international standard gauge, and motive power was provided by horses that hauled wagons along wooden rails. 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Rail gauge is the distance between two rails of a railroad. ... As railways developed and expanded one of the key issues to be decided was that of the rail gauge (the distance between the two rails of the track) which should be used. ...

In 1871, some surplus rails, wagons, and two steam locomotives were acquired from a railway project near Auckland and the tramway was upgraded to railway standards. It was purchased by the government in 1876, who had recently established the national gauge as 3 feet 6 inches (1067 mm) narrow gauge and thus re-gauged the line in 1877. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A locomotive (from lat. ... Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Narrow-gauge railways are railroads (railways) with track spaced at less than the standard gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1. ... 1877 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1876, a settlement with a deepwater port was proposed at the site of what would become Opua, and in 1881, plans of a town named "Newport" were published. It became known as Opua and the railway from Kawakawa was extended into the town and opened on 7 April 1884. The spur to the Taumarere wharf was no longer necessary as Opua's port was far superior, and thus it was closed. 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1884 (MDCCCLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Tuesday (click on link to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

It was some time before the isolated Kawakawa-Opua line was connected with the rest of the national rail network. There were questions over its viability, but in 1899, parliament approved a connection with the isolated line that was progressing north from Whangarei. A line 44 kilometres in length was required to link Kawakawa to the Whangarei section's northern railhead in Waiotu, and factors such as poor winter weather and difficulties in accessing the construction due to the relative isolation of the region at the time meant that it was not until 1911 that the rails from each end met. // National Rail Network The national rail network (currently owned by a State-Owned Enterprise, the New Zealand Railways Corporation) was constructed largely by government entities from 1863 onwards. ... 1899 (MDCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Whangarei (the initial consonant is often prounounced F) is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. ... 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...

In 1925, the North Auckland Line was finally completed and the Whangarei-Opua section was linked to the national network. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Stations

The following stations were located on the Otiria-Opua section of the North Auckland Line (in brackets is the distance in kilometres from Otiria):

• Moerewa (3 km)
• Kawakawa (7 km)
• Taumarere (10 km)
• Te Akeake (15 km)
• Whangae Bridge (16 km)
• Opua (19 km)

Operation

In the tramway days and the first years of the line, the predominant traffic was coal for export from Kawakawa. By the late 1890s, the coal traffic had all but disappeared and the government initially expressed a desire to remove the line. Local indignation was such that instead of removing the line, it was instead connected to Whangarei and then the national network. The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the Mauve Decade, because William Henry Perkins aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that colour in fashion, and also as the Gay Nineties, under the then-current usage of the word gay which referred simply to merriment and frivolity, with no...

When the North Auckland Line was fully opened in 1925, the Northland Express passenger train operated thrice weekly and ran from Auckland all the way to Opua. Freight, however, did not operate directly to Auckland; rather, freight was conveyed to and from Whangarei, with other services operating south. Some freight trains included a carriage for general passengers and were known as "mixed" trains.

In November 1956, railcars replaced the Northland Express. Unfortunately for Opua, the railcars operated to the other northern terminus of Okaihau, leaving Opua without any dedicated passenger trains. From this time, passengers had to rely on the mixed services, and bizarrely, these did not connect with the railcars in Otiria. Nonetheless, the mixed trains lasted another two decades (longer than the railcars, which ceased operating in 1967); declining usage meant that the last one ran between Whangarei and Opua on 18 June 1976. From this time, this part was used to carry solely freight, and by 1984, regular freight services beyond Kawakawa were totally unnecessary due to the almost non-existent volume of traffic. It was last used in 1985 and leased to the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway to operate tourist passenger services from Opua to Kawakawa, including running down the centre of Kawakawa's main street. 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Not to be confused with Railroad car. ... The Okaihau Branch, sometimes known as the Kaikohe Branch and rarely as the Rangiahua Branch, was a branch line railway that joined with the national rail network of New Zealand at the northern terminus of the North Auckland Line in Otiria. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... June 18 is the 169th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (170th in leap years), with 196 days remaining. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

The short line between Otiria and Kawakawa was retained as a link between the Opua-Kawakawa vintage line and the national network, but is now used as a footpath connecting Kawakawa with Moerewa. The tourist trains operated until 2001, when conflicts between several interest groups resulted in the Land Transport Safety Authority closing the line. There is now an active campaign to restore the railway services, including the restoration of the society's locomotive, refurbishment of passenger carriages, and upgrading the line to safe standards. A portion near the terminus in Opua now runs through privately owned land, but negotiations are under way to either re-acquire the line or re-route it around the property so that the trains can run directly into Opua. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

External links

• Bay of Islands Vintage Railway homepage
• History of Opua
• News articles on the revival of the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway

Reference

• Churchman, Geoffrey B., and Hurst, Tony; The Railways Of New Zealand: A Journey Through History, HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand), 1991 reprint