History

The railway from Upper Hutt to the Wairarapa included five tunnels, several large bridges and many steep grades. The railway reached the summit of the Rimutaka Range by conventional means, but such a route could not be found to descend to the Wairarapa valley. The three-mile section of track between Summit and Cross Creek on the Wairarapa side of the range had an average grade of 1 in 15. The patented Fell centre-rail system was employed to enable specially-fitted locomotives to negotiate the steep grade safely while hauling larger loads than otherwise would have been possible.

Requirement for Fell centre-rail system

The Rimutaka mountain range separating Wellington and the Wairarapa presented railway engineers with a difficult situation. Although a suitable alignment could be found on the western side of the range, on the eastern side surveys were less successful, the only practical route was that with graded steeper than that used with conventional railways. The Fell system had been patented after first use in France, providing temporary traversal of mountainous terrain whilst time-consuming tunnel boring was carried out.

Construction

Four contracts were let for construction of the formation for the Wellington and Masterton Railway between Upper Hutt and Featherston:

  1. Mungaroa Contract

    First contract for the route, commencing a short distance north of Upper Hutt, and terminating a similar distance past Kaitoke station. Charles McKirdy won the contract, having previously constructed much of the railway up the Hutt Valley to Upper Hutt.

  2. Pakuratahi Contract

    William Oakes won this contract, commencing a short distance north of Kaitoke station and terminating just short of Summit.

  3. Summit Contract

    Messrs Collie, Scott and Wilkinson won the Summit Contract. It may have been of short length, but was perhaps the most difficult as it included the 630 yard (576 metre) Summit tunnel. The contract terminated a short distance downhill of the tunnel.

  4. Incline Contract

    Incline Contract, comprising the remainder of the route to Featherston, including the majority of the Fell Incline section. Charles McKirdy also won this contract.

The Railway between Upper Hutt and Featherston was opened in stages during 1878. The Upper Hutt to Kaitoke section was opened on 1 January 1878, the more difficult Kaitoke to Featherston section on 12 October of the same year.

Operation

Four Fell locomotives were initially built for the incline, joined by a further two in 1886. Traffic continued to grow, boosted by connection to the Napier-New Plymouth railway in 1897, although relieved to some extent by the purchase of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company by the Government in 1908. Some use of conventional locomotives was made on the incline, along with an experimental Mallet compound. After World War I the incline was again entrusted solely to the six Fell locomotives.

Dramatic improvements in passenger service schedules were achieved from 1936 with a fleet of 6 railcars built at Hutt Workshops, known as the 'Wairarapa' railcars. The railcars were used for most passenger services until the incline closed, with the exception of special passenger trains and holiday traffic.

Uniqueness

At seventy-seven years New Zealand's Fell Incline Railway was far and away the longest-lived Fell-worked route of railway. Most other instances of Fell railways were short-lived affairs, but the Rimutaka Incline was not made obsolete by tunnel replacement until 1955. Other lines in New Zealand and overseas continued to use the Fell centre-rail system for braking purposes, the Rimutaka Incline was the longest-lasting line in the world that used a Fell centre-rail for adhesion as well as braking.

Demise and closure

In October 1955 the old railway route between Upper Hutt and Featherston was closed. A new railway route had been completed, including an 8.8km long tunnel through the Rimutaka Range.

After closure the track was dismantled and land disposed of by the government.

The old railway formation from Upper Hutt to a point adjacent to Maymorn station is principally in private ownership. It is incorporated into farms and residential property. Most of the formation from Maymorn to Summit is within the Wellington Regional Council's Pakuratahi Forest. A short section of the formation at Kaitoke is located on residential properties.

The section from Summit to Cross Creek, the former Fell Incline, is administered by the Department of Conservation. The remainder of the line from Cross Creek to Speedies Crossing near Featherston has been incorporated into farms.

The former railway formation from Kaitoke to Cross Creek has been developed into the popular Rimutaka Incline Recreation Area. The significance of this portion of the route was recognised in July 2002, with registration as a historic area by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

References:

Public Works Department Wellington - Masterton Railway Mungaroa Contract, 1875. National Archives Agency AATE Accession W3409 Folder 55 Part 11.

Public Works Department Wellington - Masterton Railway Pakuratahi Contract, 1875. National Archives Agency AATE Accession W3409 Folder 56 Part 12.

Public Works Department Wellington - Masterton Railway Summit Contract, 1875. National Archives Agency AATE Accession W3409 Folder 53 Part 9.

Public Works Department Wellington - Masterton Railway Incline Contract, 1875. National Archives Agency AATE Accession W3409 Folder 65 Part 46.

Cameron, W.N. 1992. 'Rimutaka Railway', New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, Wellington, New Zealand.