Gracefield Branch

Infobox rail line
logo =
name = Gracefield Branch


image_width =
caption = The start of the Gracefield Branch, curving off to the left, just south of Woburn station. The double track curving right is the Wairarapa Line.
type = Industrial siding
system =
status = Open to Hutt Workshops (freight only), remainder mothballed
locale = Wellington, New Zealand
start = Woburn
end = Gracefield Freight Terminal
stations = 1
routes =
ridership =
open = 1 April 1929
close =
owner = ONTRACK
operator = Toll New Zealand
character = Industrial
stock =
linelength = 1.6 km
tracklength =
notrack = 1
gauge = RailGauge|42
el = Formerly 1500V DC
1953-09-14, 1964 to 1983
speed =
elevation =

The Gracefield Branch is a 1.6 km long, RailGauge|42 gauge industrial line from its junction with the Hutt Valley Line (part of the Wairarapa Line) at Woburn in the Wellington Region of New Zealand’s North Island to its terminus at the southern end of the Hutt Workshops yard. The line formerly included an additional kilometer of track which terminated at the Gracefield Freight Terminal, where it connected to a network of industrial sidings in nearby Seaview. Currently, its only function is to provide access to the Hutt Workshops.

The line has over the course of its existence been known by several names, including Hutt Park Line (1937), Hutt Industrial Line (1937), Gracefield Branch (1986), Gracefield Industrial Line (2001) and Gracefield Industrial Siding (2006). Its 1937 name has led to some confusion with the earlier Hutt Park Railway.

History

Planning for the Gracefield Branch was included in surveys done for the Hutt Valley Branch line in 1924 and 1925. The line was intended to serve an area of 80 acres (32 ha) that had been purchased for the establishment of new railway workshops to replace those located at Petone, and an area at Gracefield intended for industrial development. [cite book |last= Cameron |first= Walter Norman |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor= |others= |title= A Line Of Railway: The Railway Conquest of the Rimutakas |origdate= |origyear= |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= |series= |date= |year= 1976 |month= |publisher= New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society |location= Wellington |language= |isbn= 0-908573-00-6 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= ]

The line opened on 1 April 1929 [cite book |last= Churchman |first= Geoffrey B. |authorlink= |coauthors= Hurst, Tony |editor= |others= |title= The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History |origdate= |origyear= 1990 |origmonth= |url= |format= |accessdate= |accessyear= |accessmonth= |edition= 2nd edition |series= |date= |year= 2001 |month= |publisher= Transpress New Zealand |location= Wellington |language= |isbn= 0-908876-20-3 |oclc= |doi= |id= |pages= |chapter= |chapterurl= |quote= ] and originally had only a single station, the then terminus at Hutt Park. Later, in 1943, the line was extended into Gracefield and a new terminus established there. Following land reclamation in the 1950s & 1960s, an extensive network of sidings were built at Seaview to serve industrial interests there, including: the Ford Motor Vehicle Assembly Plant; oil terminals for BP, Caltex, Europa and Shell; Pacific Scrap; and the Ministry of Works.

The line was electrified between Woburn and Hutt Park in 1953 coinciding with the electrification of the Wairarapa Line between Wellington and Taita, and extended to Gracefield in 1964. The electrification was removed in 1983, following the end of the last regular electric service on the line.

In 1972 a new depot was opened at Gracefield to relieve pressure on Lower Hutt Station (now called Western Hutt Station) to handle small consignments.

With the closure of the Gracefield yard on 30 April 2002, Woburn became the only station on the Gracefield Branch, with the only other station on the line – Hutt Park – having not been used since the cessation of race trains in 1965. The industrial sidings at Seaview were lifted around the time the Gracefield yard was closed. Though track is still in place between the Hutt Workshops and Gracefield, it has not been used since the Gracefield Freight Terminal was closed, and is now mothballed.

Operations

From the time the line opened to the 1940s, steam hauled trains were used to convey patrons to race meetings and picnics at the Hutt Park Raceway via Woburn. The race trains that had previously run to Hutt Park on the Hutt Park Railway had ceased operation in 1905. Race trains briefly resumed in the 1960s using DM/D class electric multiple units to convey patrons to meetings at the Hutt Park Raceway. These trains initially operated from both Upper Hutt and Wellington to Hutt Park, with the Wellington trains needing to reverse on to the branch at Woburn. Declining patronage led to the service being later reduced to a Wellington – Hutt Park only schedule.

A twice daily workers train between Wellington and the Hutt Workshops used to be provided to convey railwaymen to and from work. This service ran from the 1930s to December 1982, and was the last regular passenger service run on the line. These trains were of the traditional locomotive-hauled carriage variety, latterly powered by electric locomotives usually of the EW class. The withdrawal of this service eliminated the need for electrification of the branch line, leading to its subsequent removal.

Prior to the closure of the Gracefield yard, there was a regular shunting service (Q2) from the Gracefield Freight Terminal. [cite web |url=http://www.valleysignals.org.nz/gracefield/q4.html |title=Q2 Gracefield Shunt |accessdate=2008-10-10 |last=Castle |first=David |coauthors= |date=2005-12-30 |work=Hutt Valley Signals |publisher=] The only regular traffic that currently uses the line is the Hutt Workshops shunt (Q4) which normally operates thrice weekly, with occasional special services. [cite web |url=http://www.valleysignals.org.nz/gracefield/redrepairs.html |title=Repaired Red Car Leaves Hutt |accessdate=2008-10-10 |last=Castle |first=David |coauthors= |date=2005-12-30 |work=Hutt Valley Signals |publisher=]

References

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Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.valleysignals.org.nz/gbennett/graemebennettphotos.html Graeme Bennett's Woburn Photos]