The Waiau Branch – Part 1 : Introduction

This article was first published in 1999. It has been revised for this republication in July 2010.

The Waiau Branch was a typical rural NZ Railways branch line, leaving the South Island Main Trunk railway at Waipara, a small settlement 63 km north of Christchurch, and running 66 km through mainly flat country to Waiau on the south bank of the Waiau River. The line was opened in stages from April 1882 to Waikari, September 1884 to Medbury, February 1886 to Culverden, and December 1919 to Waiau.

It was originally envisaged when the line was built that it would be the main railway line north to Picton, and indeed the current main line through Parnassus was terminated at that station in 1912 and the current route north not progressed until the 1930s. The original road bridge at Waiau was constructed to be a road/rail bridge if required (in NZ's classic single deck style) but the rails never actually crossed the river.

The line served mostly rural purposes with the main centres of population through which it passed located at Waikari, Hawarden, Culverden and Waiau. At Balmoral there is a forest from which logs were railed to Waipara and then on to other destinations. Some local industries in these towns also had rail sidings.

The branch went the way of many other rural lines in the 1960s and 1970s, with falling traffic, declining maintenance and increased road competition, and was closed to all traffic on 15 January 1978. The tracks remained in place for some time after this due to a "black ban" placed by the railway unions. In December 1982 a public meeting formed the "Weka Pass Railway" to purchase the first 30 km of line from Waipara to the Hurunui River with the possibility of extending it to the Hurunui Hotel. Tenders for removal of the remaining track were called in August 1982 with the work carried out soon after.

In May 1986, Weka Pass Railway members (including myself) began lifting the track between Medbury and the Hurunui River, which was not required for their goal of operating to the hotel. Subsequent decisions taken in 1986 and 1988 to lift all track beyond State Highway 7, took until mid-1991 to complete, most of the work being carried out by volunteer labour.

This photographic essay covers the major points on the entire line as seen between 1985 and 1990, seven to twelve years after closure (although some photos from outside this era are used for comparison purposes). This of course was historical even then as the remnants of the line will change and gradually disappear, except on the 12 km preserved section operated by the Weka Pass Railway. In fact there have been a number of changes on parts of the track since I first started photographing it. It is inevitable that further change will occur and that in 50 years time, it may be very difficult to locate everything that is shown in these photographs, even as it was difficult to do so in 1985 and 1986 when I first visited the line. My main interest as a railway "enthusiast" is in the history and geography of lines and these photographs reflect that interest.

My first encounter with this line was in the late 1970s on a trip to the West Coast through the Lewis Pass. Travellers on this route from Christchurch drive north to Waipara where the branch leaves the Main North Railway. The road then runs through the Weka Pass, the railway paralleling it for the last few km and then the two formerly crossed at Waikari. The railway was then not seen again until Culverden where it ran alongside the highway for a few kilometres to Red Post Corner, where the line continued on north while the highway crossed over on its way west. On one trip in about 1980 the line was overgrown with weeds and then the next time we went over it had recently been lifted through Culverden and north. The line however was still in place through the Weka Pass and I learned later that it had been purchased by a preservationist group. In 1985 I became a member of that group - the Weka Pass Railway.

For those of you who are considering tracing the line, the book "Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways", by David Leitch and Brian Scott, is highly recommended. Also the NZ Railway and Tramway Atlas by the Quail Map Co provides route and distance information. I hope to have a curve and gradient diagram from the RES on these pages soon. Maps from Terralink (NZMS1 or NZMS260) are highly recommended for tracing the route of the old line.

As to the history of the Waiau Branch, Les Dew of the Tramway Historical Society and Weka Pass Railway, published his history of the line, The Great Northern, in 2001.

The march of time ensures that the line will continue to disappear. Since 1999 I have kept a watch on the route by using Google Earth, which even today allows many remnants to be picked out. A full map of the line, including the preserved Weka Pass section, can be seen below; it can be viewed in Google Maps or the KML files can be downloaded from my NZ Rail Maps site for use directly in Google Earth (recommended). Parts of the route are preserved for public access, including:

• Formation at Waikari (public walkway) and the station yard area.
• Culverden station yard.
• Waiau station yard.

View Larger Map

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GUIDE TO STATIONS

In this guide, former facilities are shown in italics. Facilities are where they are known to have existed so may be incomplete. Facilities shown to still exist may of course be subject to changes beyond the author's knowledge.

STATION	METRICS	FACILITIES	SIDINGS	NOTES	CURRENT
Waipara (Junction)	0 km (62.77 km from Christchurch) 72 metres above sea level	Engine shed Water vat Goods shed Triangle Way & Works Depot Car & Wagon Inspector Refreshment Rooms Social Hall (now owned by WPR) Footbridge Stockyards Station building (formerly Cust station) (replaced by a passenger shelter) Tablet section Semaphore signals (now Track Warrant) Low level loading bank Passenger halt for Coastal Pacific Express Crossing loop	Private siding for the Weka Pass Railway	Weka Pass Railway engine shed, hall and carriage workshop (latter part of old Waipara station) WPR's Glenmark Railway Station is nearby.	Public siding (used by WPR) Crossing loop Passenger platform / shelter
Waikari	14.67 km from Waipara. 225 metres above sea level.	Engine depot Water vat Turntable High level loading bank Low level loading bank Goods shed Stockyard Tablet section (bank-engine key) Station building Two-position signals Crossing loop Crossing alarms at State Highway 7 and Princess Street level crossings	Flour mill siding Lime works siding	Timpendean Walkway follows part of the old railway formation uphill from the Princess Street crossing. WPR's Waikari station (not the original but the relocated Hundalee station building) is located 1.9 km from Waikari at the former State Highway 7 level crossing.	Flour mill now a private residence Parts of formation in the area are kept as public tracks.
Hawarden	21.43 km from Waipara. 241 metres above sea level.	Stockyards Low level loading bank Goods shed Crane Station building Crossing loop Stockyards			Unknown
Medbury (closed 1974)	26.75 km from Waipara. 238 metres above sea level	Stockyards Goods shed Low level loading bank Water vat/tank Station building		Goods shed relocated to adjacent site	Much of the yard has been excavated as a shingle pit (now closed)
Balmoral	34.7 km from Waipara. 228 metres above sea level.	Stockyards Low level loading bank High level loading bank Station building	Forest Department private siding	Station building relocated to Medbury vicinity	Unknown
Pahau	40.98 km from Waipara. 196 metres above sea level.	Station building Possibly a public siding?		Station building relocated to Medbury vicinity	Unknown
Culverden	45.95 km from Waipara. 175 metres above sea level.	Station building Semaphore signals Engine depot Turntable Goods shed Crane Low level loading bank High level loading bank Stockyards Hoist Crossing loop Water vat Shunting tractor		Station building retained by local government, sold for removal in 1986. Relocated to a farm in the district. Former Prebbleton station.	High level loading bank Station yard is accessible.
Achray	54.34 km from Waipara. 191 metres above sea level.	Station building Loading bank			Unknown
Rotherham	57.32 km from Waipara. 181 metres above sea level	Station building Stockyards Goods shed Low level loading bank		Station building remained on the site after closure, passing to the adjacent farmers. It was to have been relocated to Waikari but this did not occur.	Unknown
Waiau (Terminus station)	66.55 km from Waipara. 139 metres above sea level.	Station building Semaphore signals Engine shed Turntable Water vat Crane Low level loading bank High level loading bank Stockyards Shunting tractor	Lime silo siding	The station building burnt down in 1980.	Lime silo Public reserve.