NZ Rail Maps

Volume 7
Nelson Section

Edition 1b
2017

Nelson Section
Nelson-Blenheim Railway
Grand Tapawera Railroad Co
Nelson Railway Society
Dun Mountain Railway
 Important Notice
Virtually all of the maps reproduced in this volume show a web address of
www.flickr.com/photos/nzrailmaps on the bottom of them. Unfortunately this website
is no longer available and going to this address will produce a 404 Not Found error
message. Please use www.nzrailmaps.nz instead. Should there be any further changes in
locations of third party hosted project content such as this then refer the NZ Rail Maps
website at the above address to track these changes.

Index Data & Information

Station Distance Altitude Notes Page
Nelson Section
Construction works began on the Nelson Section in 1876 and work proceeded thereafter very slowly, with
an average of 2 km constructed over each of the subsequent 55 years to Gowanbridge. Work beyond there
ceased in 1931 due to depression economic conditions and was never resumed, with the rails lifted back to
Glenhope in 1942 due to wartime shortages. Services were suspended 1954-06-13 but resumed four days
later when the Nelson Progress League undertook to guarantee 25,000 tons of annual freight traffic. When
this was not able to be met the line was finally closed 1955-09-03. Removal began immediately and all track
was lifted by the end of 1956, whilst demolition of structures was completed mid-1958. A notional railway
for freight transport by road was instigated in 1957 as a temporary substitute and continued in force until
1979, with transhipment off the MNL at Spring Creek. Aerial photos p.40-42.
Port 0.00 Wharf sidings. Section from Nelson opened 1880-05- 7
17.
Nelson 1M 10 Private sidings. Operated 1876-01-31 to 1955-09-03. 7
Hampden Street Crossing No data available. 7
Bishopdale 2.9 M 640 Operated 1876-01-31 to 1955-09-03. 8
Overbridge (Scotia Street) Removed post closure. 8
Bridge 8
Annesbrook Drive Built c.1926. Remained in use until demolished c.2000 8
Overbridge
Bridge 9
Stoke 5.39 M 75 Operated 1876-02-26 to 1955-09-03. 9
Bridge 9
Bridge 9
Freezing Works 6.89 M Private siding. Operated 1909-04 to 1955-09-03. 10
Bridge 10
Bridge 10
Richmond 8.4 M 30 Operated 1876-01-31 to 1955-09-03. 10
Appleby Overbridge Built c.1926. Still in use today. 10
Appleby 9.4 M 52 Operated c.1895-04-23 to 1955-09-03. 10
Hope 10.4 M 72 Private siding. Operated 1876-01-31 to 1955-09-03. 11
Bridge 11
Bridge 11
Wairoa River Bridge 11
Bridge 11
Bridge 12
Brightwater 13.2 M 92 Formerly Wairoa. Private siding. Operated 1876-01-31 12
to 1955-09-03.
Bridge 12
Bridge 12
Bridge A bridge exists at this site today, possibly reused. 12
Spring Grove 14.6 M 118 Operated 1876-01-31 to 1955-09-03. 12
Wakefield 17.3 M 203 Operated 1876-01-31 to 1955-09-03. 13
88 Valley Stream Bridge 13
Wai-iti 20.01 M 328 Formerly Foxhill. Section from Nelson opened 1876- 14
01-31. Station closed 1955-09-03.
Bridge 14
Wai-iti River Bridge 14
Foxhill 21.21 M 367 Operated 1881-07-25 to 1955-09-03. 14
Bridge 15
Bridge 15
Pretty Bridge Stm Bridge 15
Belgrove c.22.14 M c.440 Section from Wai-iti opened 1881-07-25. Closed 1899 15
with abandonment of Tophouse route.
Bridge 15
Belgrove 22.14 M 440 Opened c.1898-10 serving new route via Spooners 15
Range. Windmill remains today.
Bridge 16
Highway Bridge Site bypassed today but abutments remain. 16
Tunnel East Portal 869 Service siding. Overhead flume when railway open. 17
Spooners Range Tunnel 1010 Length 2953. Cycleway access. 17
Tunnel West Portal 915 Service siding. 17
Bridge 17
Bridge 18
Bridge 18
Bridge 18
Bridge 18
Bridge 18
Bridge 18
Bridge 18
Bridge 19
Bridge 19
Bridge 19
Bridge 19
Bridge 19
Motupiko 31.91 M 620 Formerly Kohatu. Section from Belgrove opened 1900- 19
07-23. Station closed 1955-09-03.
Mararewa 35.11 M 528 Operated 1906-10-22 to 1955-09-03. 20
Bridge 20
Bridge 21
Tapawera 36.81 M 479 Formerly Maniaroa. Operated 1904-06-27 to 1955-09- 21
03.
Motueka River Bridge Road/Rail bridge. Remained for road traffic until 1977. 21
Rakau 39.61 M 554 Formerly Pahls Siding. Operated 1906-06-19 to 1955- 22
09-03.
Tadmor 42.31 M 673 Section from Motupiko opened 1906-08-06. Operated 23
1906-02-7 to 1955-09-03.
Kiwi 47.41 M 899 Section from Tadmor opened 1908-12-18. Operated 25
1908-07-30 to 1955-09-03.
Bridge 26
Tui 50.61 M 1066 Operated 1910-03-18 to 1955-09-03. 27
Tui Road Overbridge Remained in place after line closed, no longer exists. 27
Bridge 27
Kaka 53.41 M 1211 Private sidings. 28
Kiwi Creek Bridge Piers remain. 28
Tadmor Rd Overbridge Remained in place after line closed, no longer exists. 28
Railway Saddle 56.51 M 1485 Highest point on the line. 28
Bridge 29
Bridge 29
Glenhope 60.06 M 1273 Section from Kiwi opened 1912-09-02. Operated 30
1912-04-24 to 1955-09-03.
Ballast Pit / Loco Dump 30
Hope River Bridge Piers remaining. 31
Kawatiri Tunnel Rail trail from Kawatiri station site. 31
Hope River Bridge Footbridge built over piers for rail trail access. 31
Highway Overbridge Remained in place after line closed, no longer exists. 32
Kawatiri 64.14 M 1161 Section from Glenhope opened 1926-06-21, closed 32
1931-07-12. Track remained in place until 1942.
Gowan Rd Overbridge Remained in place after line closed, no longer exists. 33
Gowanbridge c.68.05 M 1050 Operated 1929-05-13 to 1933-06-24 PWD only. Track 33
remained in place until 1942.
Murchison c.82 M Incomplete construction works reached about 81 M. 38
Bush clearing was completed to 99 M.
Inangahua c.109 M Intended junction with the Stillwater Westport Line. 39
Nelson Blenheim Railway
The incoming Labour Government of 1957 promised to build a new railway from Nelson to Blenheim. The selected
route of three investigated, via Rai and Pelorus Valleys (the others were via Tinline-Pelorus and Brightwater-Wairoa-
Goulter-Wairau) would have resulted in a 63 mile railway with approximately 15750 feet of tunnelling and 7500
feet of bridging, and was selected as the cheapest option. The first sod on the new works was turned at a ceremony
on 1960-03-01 and the reclamation of a site for the railway yards was begun. Following the General Election later
that year, Labour was ousted from office, and the incoming National administration announced 1960-12-14 that
work was to cease immediately, repealing the authorising legislation at the first sitting of Parliament the following
year. Proposals to resume the work have been floated periodically, most recently by the NZ First party.
Nelson 0.00 Site off Kinzett Terrace (Maitai Bowling Club). 7
Spring Creek c.63 M Junction with MNL. Exact route unknown. n/a
Grand Tapawera Railroad Co / Tapawera Museum
In the 1980s the Grand Tapawera Railroad Co was formed as an incorporated society to establish a proposed
heritage railway in the Kohatu (Motupiko) area making use of the disused railway formation. An early initiative of
the society saw the old Spooner railway tunnel opened for public tours, and a display shelter and wagon were
erected alongside the highway at Tapawera. The shelter is now part of the Tapawera Museum. In 2004 the former
station building from Kiwi was relocated to Tapawera and restored as part of the museum.
Nelson Railway Society
In 1991, Grand Tapawera Railroad Co (see above) membership decided to refocus on Nelson and subsequently
adopted its present name, merging with the existing heritage railway at Founders Park Museum. Track has been
constructed near the old 1960 Nelson railway yard site and trains are operated regularly as well as restoration of
locomotives and rolling stock.
Grove Former station building from Spring Grove. 7
Wakefield Quay Former railway building from Port. 7
Tui Former station building from Tui. 7
Dun Mountain Railway
Long believed to be New Zealands first railway, this 21 km line was built in 1862 to carry chromite and copper ore
from Dun Mountain to the Port of Nelson. The mining operation was shortlived and most of the tramway closed in
1866 and was lifted in 1872. A short section on the flat remained in use for a horse drawn passenger tram service
until 1901 when the operation ceased and the track was lifted. The bulk of the hilly section of formation remains
accessible as a public trail.
Dun Mountain Track 43
COPYRIGHT & GENERAL INFO

This map is copyright Patrick Dunford 2017, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Maps website: http://www.nzrailmaps.nz/

Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand License (CC BY-SA 3.0)

LINZ data layers and aerial photos courtesy of LINZ Data Service.

Authored using Qgis 3 on Xubuntu / Debian

Last updated 17 October 2017. Edition 1.0b

Thanks to the NZRailMaps and NZ-Rail-Geography Yahoo Groups Communities.

Bibliography:

New Zealand Mapping Series 1 Topographic Maps and others Land Information NZ.
New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas Quail Map Co / Watts Publications.
Exploring New Zealands Ghost Railways Leitch and Scott.
When Nelson Had A Railway ODonnell.
Wikipedia article on the Nelson Section
Nelson Railway Society website.
Dates and Names Scoble.
 MAP KEYS
LOCATIONS
Milepost Placemark Public station
Operational station Subway station Signal
Intermediate board Closed station Uncertain station
Subway station closed Signal removed Hypothetical
Rail trail waypoint Current siding site Former siding site
RAIL ROUTES
Current single main Current multi mains Current siding
Singled main Mothballed single mn Mothballed multi mn
Lifted mainline Closed siding Current tramway
Former tramway Current corridor Former corridor
Subway corridor Incomplete construc. Uncertain corridor
CORRIDORS
Rail Trail Current road Closed road
Vehicle track New/changed road Road in rail corridor
Current miniature rly Closed miniature rly Current pipeline
Former pipeline Aerial ropeway Former ropeway
Footpath Former footpath Land border
Waterway
BRIDGES (see notes below)
Current rail Former rail Current rail f/b
Former rail f/b Current other bridge Former other bridge
Current other f/b Former other f/b Pedestrian subway
TUNNELS (see notes below)
Current single track Current multi track Former rail
Current road/other Former road/other
REGIONS (see notes below)
Current rail structure Former rail structure Current railway site
or building or building

Former railway site Current other Former other

structure or building structure or building

Current other site Former other site Land void

Lake or river Property

SINGLE LETTER CODES

Toilets A Bridge B Signalbox B
Works depot D Engine shed E Fuelling facility F
Goods shed / shelter G House H Loading bank L
Platform P Station building S Turntable T
Tunnel T Trolley shed V Watering facility W
Stockyard Y Codes bracketed where object relocated.
NOTES
When a railway bridge, tunnel, building. structure or site is transferred to a non-railway purpose, it becomes a
current other object rather than a former rail object. The former rail classification is used where the object
no longer exists. Bridge classifications refer to complete structure. Closed sidings or former siding sites may still
have track in place and/or be connected to a main line or railway yard.
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 Brightwater 1942

Spring Grove 1938

Wakefield 1942

Richmond 1946

Freezing Works 1946

Belgrove 1946

Patrick Dunford 2017 Updated 2017-10-17 Page 40

 Tui 1946

Kaka 1945

Nelson 1954

Gowanbridge 1949

Kawatiri 1949

Patrick Dunford 2017 Updated 2017-10-17 Page 41

 Motupiko 1946

Rakau 1946

Mararewa 1946

Tapawera 1946

Granity Creek 1943

Tadmor 1946

Patrick Dunford 2017 Updated 2017-10-17 Page 42

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