Castlecliff Branch

The Castlecliff Branch is a branch line railway in the Manawatu-Wanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It branches from the Wanganui Branch of the Marton - New Plymouth Line near the Taupo Quay station in central Wanganui and loosely follows the Wanganui River to Castlecliff on the South Taranaki Bight of the Tasman Sea. From its opening in 1885 until 1956, the line was operated by a private company, originally called the Wanganui Heads Railway Company and later renamed the Castlecliff Railway Company. Since 2006, the branch has been closed to all traffic but the infrastructure remains in place. Under its final operator, Toll Rail, it was named the Castlecliff Industrial Line.

Construction

In 1878, the Foxton and Wanganui Railway was opened; the southernmost portion between Foxton and Longburn became the now-closed Foxton Branch, the section from Longburn through Palmerston North to Marton part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway, the section from Marton to Aramoho part of the Marton - New Plymouth Line, and the 5 km from Aramoho to central Wanganui opened on 21 January 1878 and became the Wanganui Branch. This line was intended to link the ports of Wanganui and Foxton with the Manawatu hinterland and form part of a trunk route from Wellington to Taranaki.Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand: A Journey Through History" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 132.] However, as the line terminated at Taupo Quay, it was roughly 6 km from Wanganui's port in Castecliff. This led to the formation of the Wanganui Heads Railway Company (WHRC) to provide a direct rail link to the port.

The WHRC was floated in early 1882, [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&srpos=24&cl=search&d=HNS18820106.2.6&e=-------en--21----0%22Wanganui+Heads%22+railway-all "News and Notes"] , "Hawera and Normanby Star" 3(194) [6 January 1882] : 2.] and on 4 October 1882, the WHRC issued notice of its proposal to build the railway line under the District Railways Act of 1877.Borlase and Barnicoat, [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&srpos=14&cl=search&d=EP18821018.2.35.5&e=-------en--11----0%22Wanganui+Heads%22+railway-all "The Wanganui Heads Railway Company (Limited)"] , "Evening Post" 24(76) [18 October 1882] : 3.] In July 1884, the WHRC called for tenders to construct the railway.C. S. Cross, [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&srpos=12&cl=search&d=EP18840701.2.24.3&e=-------en--11----0%22Wanganui+Heads%22+railway-all "The Wanganui Heads Railway Company (Limited)"] , "Evening Post" 28(1) [1 July 1884] : 4.] Once a contract was let, the first sod was turned on 4 August 1884 at a public ceremony attended by approximately 400 people. [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&srpos=2&cl=search&d=NOT18840806.2.14&e=-------en--1----0%22Wanganui+Heads%22+railway-all "Wanganui"] , "North Otago Times" 28(3719) [6 August 1882] : 2.] Construction took a little over a year, and the line opened on 31 October 1885."New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas", fourth edition, edited by John Yonge (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 11.]

Operation

For over seventy years from its opening, the Castlecliff Branch was privately owned and operated. The WHRC was reorganised in April 1889 and renamed the Castlecliff Railway Company (CRC). In 1953, the Wanganui Harbour Board began pressuring the New Zealand Railways Department to acquire the line, and it did so on 1 February 1956.Churchman and Hurst, "The Railways of New Zealand", 136.] Since this date, the line has been in the possession of the successive owners of New Zealand's national rail network.

Passenger services

In its early years, the line provided the primary means of transport between Wanganui and Castlecliff. Saddle tank steam locomotives provided the motive power and passenger traffic was sufficient to justify six trains each way daily. Extra services were operated on weekends and public holidays to cater for the crowds that travelled to the beach at Castlecliff. In 1912, however, the local tramway opened its own line from central Wanganui to Castlecliff and entered into competition with the CRC. Previously, passengers from Aramoho and other locations beyond walking distance of the CRC's Wanganui terminus had been able to purchase combined train and tram tickets for trips to Castlecliff, but now that it had its own line, the tramway ceased this practice. The CRC pursued a number of measures to boost patronage, such as carrying prams and bicycles for free. It also considered more drastic steps such as electrifying the line or purchasing a battery-electric railcar like the Railways Department's Edison railcar.Graham Stewart, "The End of the Penny Section: When Trams Ruled the Streets of New Zealand", revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1993 [1973] ), 105.] However, competition from the tramways became too strong and as passenger traffic was no longer viable, services were cancelled from April 1932 and the CRC catered for freight only. The only passenger services over the line since this time have been extremely infrequent excursions operated by enthusiast societies such as SteamRail Wanganui.

Freight services

The primary reason for the existence of the Castlecliff Branch was freight. It served the Port of Wanganui as well as numerous industrial sidings. A chemical works was established in Aramoho in 1924 and the railway was used to carry Nauru phosphate from the port. In June 1939, a ship named the "Port Bowen" ran aground on Castlecliff's beach and the railway was used to salvage it. A temporary line of approximately 3 km length was built from the CRC's terminus onto the beach to the vessel, which was dismantled and railed away.

Steam locomotives worked freight services on the Castlecliff Branch into the 1960s, including members of the W^W class.Tony Hurst, "Farewell to Steam: Four Decades of Change on New Zealand Railways" (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1995), 37.] The line was dieselised in the 1960s, and in its last active years, DSC class shunting locomotives worked the line. When they were removed from Wanganui, services ceased. On 5 September 2006, the current operator of the New Zealand network, Toll Rail, closed the line to all traffic and a sleeper was placed across the start of the line to prohibit its use.Toll Rail bulletin, 5 September 2006.] However, the Branch has not been formally closed by ONTRACK, the state-owned body that oversees the network's infrastructure, as this requires written permission from the appropriate government minister. The track remains in place, mothballed.

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