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Encyclopedia > Taonui Branch

The Taonui Branch was a minor railway line in New Zealand's national network. It opened in 1879 and was used until 1895. // 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. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Contents


Construction

In the late 1870s, sleepers were required for the Foxton - Wanganui Railway (this line eventually formed parts of the Marton - New Plymouth Line, North Island Main Trunk Railway, and the closed Foxton Branch). Accordingly, this line was constructed from Taonui, a location on the line near Feilding, in an easterly direction towards Colyton to reach a stand of totara trees. It was opened on 17 November 1879, and over the next three years, it was overseen by three separate authorities: initially, Railways commissioners, then the Public Works Department as of 20 April 1881, and finally the Railways Department around the start of July 1882. // Events and Trends Technology The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... Ferroconcrete sleepers A variant fastening of rails to wooden sleepers A railroad tie, cross tie, or sleeper is an oblong object used as a base for railroad tracks. ... The NIMT is the railway line connecting Auckland and Wellington, the two major cities of New Zealands North Island. ... The Foxton Branch was a railway line in New Zealand. ... Feilding is a town in the Manawatu region of the North Island of New Zealand. ... Binomial name Podocarpus totara G. Benn. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece. ... 1879 (MDCCCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... April 20 is the 110th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (111th in leap years). ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...


Operation

Despite being officially designated a branch line, it was little more than an elongated siding. Soon after opening, horses substituted for locomotive power as a means of saving money - the animals would pull the wagons up the line, and once they were loaded, gravity was left to take the wagons back down the moderate descent to Taonui. A branch line is a relatively minor railway line which branches off a more important through route. ... A siding, in general rail terminology, refers to a section of rail used to store stationary rolling stock perhaps whilst it is loaded or unloaded, or alternatively, a short length of rail that provides access to and from factories, mines, quarries, wharves, etc. ...


The line was not just used to provide the national railways with sleepers; some private timber companies also offered traffic. However, this traffic was not significant and closing the line was proposed by 1893. Closure came on 14 August 1895 and the rails were gone by February the next year. 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... August 14 is the 226th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (227th in leap years), with 139 days remaining. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...


The branch today

No earthworks at all were required for the line and no traces of the formation have survived to today. The station building from the junction in Taonui has survived - after closure in the 1960s, it lived on a farmer's paddock near its original location for many years before the farmer donated it to the Feilding and District Steam Rail Society. It has now been restored and included as part of the society's depot in Feilding, and the restoration work earnt the society a Certificate of Merit from the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ...


External link

  • Feilding Steam Rail's page on the restoration of Taonui station, including photos.

Reference

  • Leitch, David, and Scott, Brian; Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, Grantham House, 1998 revised edition
New Zealand Railway Lines
Main lines
North Island: East Coast Main Trunk - North Island Main Trunk
South Island: Main North Line and Main South Line, known together as the South Island Main Trunk
Secondary lines
North Island: Marton - New Plymouth Line - North Auckland Line - Palmerston North - Gisborne Line - Stratford - Okahukura Line - Wairarapa Line
South Island: Midland Line - Nelson Section - Otago Central Railway - Stillwater - Westport Line - Waimea Plains Railway
Branch lines
Upper North Island: Cambridge - Dargaville - Donnelly's Crossing - Glen Afton - Kinleith - Kumeu-Riverhead - Mount Maunganui - Murupara - Newmarket - Okaihau - Onehunga - Onerahi - Opua - Rotorua - Taneatua - Thames - Waiuku and Mission Bush
Lower North Island: Ahuriri - Castlecliff and Wanganui - Foxton - Greytown - Johnsonville - Melling - Mount Egmont - Moutohora - Ngatapa - Opunake - Raetihi - Taonui - Te Aro - Waitara
Upper South Island: Blackball and Roa - Cape Foulwind - Conns Creek - Eyreton - Fairlie - Little River - Lyttelton - Methven - Mount Somers - Oxford - Rapahoe - Rewanui - Hokitika/Ross - Seddonville - Southbridge - Waiau - Waimate - Whitecliffs
Lower South Island: Bluff - Catlins River - Dunback and Makareao - Fernhill - Hedgehope - Kingston - Kurow - Moeraki - Mossburn - Ngapara and Tokarahi - Outram - Port Chalmers - Roxburgh - Shag Point - Tapanui - Tokanui - Tuatapere - Waikaia - Waikaka - Wairio - Walton Park - Wyndham
Private lines
Glen Massey Branch - Dunedin Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway - Dun Mountain Railway - Hutt Park Railway - Kaitangata Line - Sanson Tramway - Wellington and Manawatu Railway


 

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