Tiroroa is the first crossing loop west of Inangahua. It is deep in the Buller Gorge with no road access. It was first brought into use by the Public Works Department when railway construction reached this point in 1930, and handed over to NZR with the formal opening of the line between Inangahua and Te…

Rahui is the next station west of Mackley Ballast Pit. It is a remote location in the Buller Gorge. It is recorded as having opened in December 1943 when the line was linked through the Gorge from the south. Although the PWD had constructed part of the line through the Gorge from the 1920s and…

As we all know there are various locations around the country where, to save on the construction costs of bridges, railway and road bridges have been combined on the same substructure (foundations and piers). The earliest bridges of this type also had a combined single level deck which was essentially a road deck with rails…

A date of opening or closing is not currently recorded for this location. It was still open in 1981 when a metric distance of 99.75 km from Stillwater was recorded in the WTT. However the siding was shown then as “Private Siding” so whether it was being used for other purposes than the ballast pit,…

This will be the last article in this series for a few weeks because I have to finish writing the first part of the Otago Central series to get it ready for publication. Inangahua is a township between Reefton and Westport. It is at the junction of SH6 to Nelson/Westport and SH69 to Reefton. It…

Cronadun is between Reefton and Inangahua. It opened in 1908 and has been closed to public traffic for many years, but remains in use today as a crossing loop.

Reefton is the major intermediate station between Stillwater and Westport. The line was originally called the Stillwater Westport Line, as the line north of Westport was opened as the Seddonville Branch. The branch line north of Ngakawau was closed in 1981 and over time, as Westport dminished in importance, a bypass track was built to…

Tawhai is currently the last station before Reefton. Its present facilities are a crossing loop and siding, however it is not a public station, so these facilities are for KRL purposes only. Tawhai is. as a name, more commonly associated with the tunnel of the same name, which is the first tunnel on the Stillwater…

Maimai Siding is not too far south (east) of Tawhai, which is about 10 km south (east) of Reefton. The original Maimai station was at 31.2 miles and it was opened 1891 and served a sawmill. There was a ballast siding at the site which apparently closed 1914. I haven’t located if there was a…

Mawheraiti has referred to three locations: The original station was located at 45.08 km, or north (railway west) of Bridge 48. It opened in 1891, and it was closed to all traffic in 1988. Bridge 48 crosses the Mawheraiti River. When the line was converted to Track Warrant Control about the same time as the…