Conns Creek Branch

The Conns Creek Branch was a short branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. It diverged from the Seddonville Branch in Waimangaroa and followed the Waimangaroa River to its terminus at the foot of the Denniston Incline. The line operated from 1877 until 1967 and existed for the express purpose of conveying coal from mine to port.

Construction

The branch was originally built to serve private coal mining interests, as coal had been discovered in the Papahaua Range in the 1860s. The Seddonville Branch was under construction in the mid-1870s, and the Wellington Coal Mining Company called for tenders for a private line from a junction in Waimangaroa in September 1875. The Seddonville Branch was completed to Waimangaroa on 5 August 1876 and the first 1.5 km of the Conns Creek Branch subsequently opened in 1877. The Wellington Coal Mining Company's mine was unsuccessful, but a series of inclines were built to convey coal from the Koramui mine, at an altitude of 750 m, to the railway on the coastal plain.^[1]

In 1878, additional coal deposits were found and the Westport Colliery Company was formed to exploit them. Tenders were called to extend the railway by a kilometre and build the Denniston Incline, with tenders closing on 30 April 1878. The railway terminated at a yard by Conns Creek at the foot of the Incline, and both opened together in either late 1878 or early 1879.^[2]

Operation

Motive power on the branch was always provided by steam locomotives. Traffic other than coal was insignificant, and trains conveyed the coal to the harbour in Westport. At the start of the 20th century, four trains operated each way daily; these were mixed trains as provisions were made to convey passengers. These were removed in 1931 and the line became goods only. Numerous mines in the area sent their coal to the branch for transport to Westport, with tonnages peaking in 1910 with 348,000 tonnes carried.^[3] However, by 1914, one source of traffic was lost as the Koramui mine's series of inclines had closed.^[4]

Although the New Zealand Railways Department (NZR) operated trains on the Conns Creek Branch, the trackage and mines were for many years privately owned. On 1 April 1948, the State Mines Department took over the mines, and in 1958, the railway passed into NZR possession. However, by this point, traffic was in significant decline and trains no longer ran through to Westport; a shunting locomotive based in Waimangaroa shuttled wagons up and down the branch, with Seddonville Branch trains conveying them between Waimangaroa and Westport. The Incline closed on 16 August 1967, and with little to justify its continued existence, the Conns Creek Branch subsequently closed in November 1967, with a short portion at the junction retained as a backshunt for the Waimangaroa yard.^[5]

The branch today

Although remnants of closed railways deteriorate and disappear over time due to natural and human activity, some remains of the Conns Creek Branch still exist. Some of the old formation is still visible and a road to the foot of the Denniston Incline follows it for 1.3 km. At the branch's terminus are a couple of coal wagons, a crane, and other relics. From this point, the remains of the Incline extend up to Denniston.^[6]

External links

• Brian's Ghost Railways: Brief information and photos about the Denniston Incline and the connecting railway

Further reading

• Meyer, R. J. (1971). Coaling From The Clouds: The Mount Rochfort Railway and the Denniston Incline. Wellington: New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society. 

References

1. ^ Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 196.
2. ^ David Leitch and Brian Scott, Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995]), 54.
3. ^ Churchman and Hurst, The Railways of New Zealand, 196.
4. ^ John Yonge (editor), New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas, 4th edition (Exeter: Quail Map Company, 1993), 21.
5. ^ Churchman and Hurst, The Railways of New Zealand, 196-7.
6. ^ Leitch and Scott, Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, 54.