Kapuni Branch

The Opunake Branch, later the Kapuni Branch was a branch railway of 36.4 km across the southern slopes of Mount Egmont to link the rural town of Opunake with the Marton–New Plymouth Line at Te Roti. With the decline of rural freight, part of the line was closed in 1976, but the 10.9 km section to Kapuni was retained and upgraded to service traffic to the Kapuni natural gas field.

A branch line of "about 23 miles" to Opunake was authorised in 1912 for £400,000 by the Railways Authorization Act, 1912. Work commenced in 1914, and earthworks reached Kapuni by 1916, but progress was slowed by World War I. Work was suspended in December 1917, and recommenced in March 1919. At the peak 200 men were employed on line works, including a large 1.6 km cutting near Waiteika. The Waingongoro Bridge near Te Roiti, an unusual (for New Zealand) brick arch bridge, was completed in 1921, and the second bridge in 1923.

The Public Works Department began running goods trains to Kapuni from 1 August 1923, and to Mangawhero Road by December 1924. The Opunake terminal was reached on 8 June 1925. On 12 July 1926 the Railways Department took over the line, with three goods trains each way a week plus passenger services.

A 9 km branch from Kapuni to Manaia was built in 1920-24 to service a ballast pit on the Kaupokonui River, but was closed and the track lifted by 1926.

Passenger services on the branch ended on 16 October 1955. D^B class diesels were used from December 1966, then Dc class diesels from the 1980s. On April 1976 it was decided to close the line beyond Kapuni from July, and the 10.9 km section to Kapuni was upgraded and renamed the Kapuni Branch.

Today the former 25.5 km section from Kapuni to Opunake has "plenty of railway remnants to satisfy the enthusiast" with sections of roadbed, cuttings, a goods shed and loading bay at Pihama and a loco shed, gateposta, a platform and a goods loading bank at Opunake. ^[1]

References

1. ↑ Leitch & Scott 1995, p. 24.

• Churchman, Geoffrey B., and Hurst, Tony; The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History p136-137 (1990, HarperCollins, Auckland) ISBN 1-86950-015-6
• Leitch, David, and Scott, Brian; Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways p23-24 (1998 revised edition, Grantham) ISBN 1-86934-048-5

Further reading

• Hermann, Bruce J; North Island Branch Lines pp 49,50 (2007, New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society, Wellington) ISBN 978-0-908573-83-7

External links

• Article on opening of Opunake Branch, 1926