Hutt Park Railway

The Hutt Park Railway was a privately owned and illegally constructed [ [http://www.valleysignals.org.nz/huttparkrailway/huttparkrailway.html#act Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1915, section 137] ] railway that operated in Petone at the southern end of the Hutt Valley in New Zealand's North Island. It operated from 1885 until 1982 as a branch line of the Hutt Valley section of the Wairarapa Line, though after 1915, it was truncated and functioned as an industrial siding.

Construction

The Hutt Park Railway was constructed to serve the Hutt Park horse racing track of the Wellington Racing Club (WRC). The WRC was in competition with the Wellington Jockey Club's track in Island Bay and sought the competitive advantage of a railway to provide easier access for the patrons of its race meetings.Valley Signals, [http://www.valleysignals.org.nz/huttparkrailway/huttparkrailway.html "Hutt Park Railway Company"] , accessed 12 June 2007.] The first proposals for a line were made as early as 1874, not long after the first portion of the Wairarapa Line was opened to Lower Hutt, but this proposal was ultimately rejected by an 1880 Royal Commission. Nonetheless, in 1884, the Hutt Park Railway Company was formed and the 3.2 kilometre long line was constructed in 38 days.Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 155.] This construction took place without authorisation; in 1915, to resolve a legal dispute brought before the High Court, the Parliament of New Zealand passed the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act 1915, which contained a provision in section 137 that legitimised the line's existence.

Operation

The junction with the main line was at a no longer extant flag station known as Beach Railway Station, and the line terminated at Hutt Park Railway Station, a 122 metre long platform by the western bank of the Hutt River. In the 1901 Working Timetable, these two stops are referred to as Petone Junction and Racecourse Platform respectively. [New Zealand Railways Department, [http://www.valleysignals.org.nz/history/hutt_park_branch_instructionsb.jpg1901 Working Timetable extract] ] Trains ran whenever there was a race meeting - these took place approximately four times a year and lasted for one or two days. The trains began in Te Aro at the end of the Te Aro Extension and operated through Lambton Railway Station, the predecessor of Wellington Railway Station, to Hutt Park. These services were run by the New Zealand Railways Department on behalf of the Hutt Park Railway Company and typically employed a W^A class tank locomotive as motive power.

Closure

In 1906, the WRC relocated to a new track near the present day Trentham Railway Station and the Hutt Park Railway fell into disuse. The Company went into liquidation in 1918. The portion of the railway from Victoria Street to the Hutt River was lifted, while the remaining portion passed into the possession of the Gear Meat Preserving and Freezing Company and functioned as an industrial siding. Gear owned its own small locomotives to perform shunting duties. Two have been saved for preservation. One was a former Railways Department locomotive, D 137, and the other a Barclay 4-4-0. In November 1963, they were sold to another company and subsequently passed into the possession of the Silver Stream Railway. In 1982, Gear ceased operations and the last remnants of the Hutt Park Railway were removed. [Tony Hurst, "Farewell to Steam: Four Decades of Change on New Zealand Railways" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1995), 131.] Some of the track and sleepers were taken for use in the construction of the Silver Stream Railway. [Bryan Bishop, [http://www.silverstreamrailway.org.nz/index.php?page=9 "Silver Stream - The Early Years"] , 3.]

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