Tr189 (937) standing outside the rail vehicle shed at Maymorn on 30 July 2010. Shortly after unloading, the loco was rolled inside the shed, becoming the first locomotive to be placed inside. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Adopted: 28 September 2011
The predominant physical project work for the Trust during 2010-2011 were focused on developing railway facilities at Maymorn, 6km northeast of Upper Hutt. In the future this will be the departure point for heritage train services that the Trust plans to operate over the former railway route between Upper Hutt and Featherston, via Kaitoke, Summit and Cross Creek. Maymorn station is ideally situated, connected to Upper Hutt, Wellington and the Wairarapa via current Tranz Metro passenger services, and only a short distance from the heritage railway route proper.
Facilities at Maymorn currently under development, whilst currently required for the construction phase, will be used without modification for the future railway operation. For example, the rail vehicle shed will eventually be used to store operational locomotives and carriages, and initial railway track being built will become our future mainline at the station building. Significant milestones were achieved for the rail vehicle shed during the year: completion of the main roof structure, installation of train doors and pedestrian doors – which means that we now have a secure facility. Once the rail vehicle shed and initial track developments are further advanced attention will turn to investigating ways in which to present local railway heritage to the public at the Maymorn site.
Significant work was also put into a connection route between Maymorn and the heritage railway formation towards Tunnel Gully. Extensive survey and engineering work was undertaken by Trust members to locate and design the route. It utilises available landforms between Maymorn and the historic railway formation as it passes into Greater Wellington Regional Council land near Tunnel Gully. The connection route was developed in conjunction with the Upper Hutt City Council's Maymorn Structure Plan – a multi-stage urban development for the Maymorn area centred on the railway station. We recommended that additional integration and connections be put in place so that the railway passes through a "railway reserve", highlighted and made prominent in the urban landscape - and so that visitors might be able to view the heritage railway operations first-hand from adjacent cycleways, paths and carriageways.
The Maymorn operational base is important in a number of ways. It is the current focus of volunteer activity, which the Trust is entirely reliant upon for its future. Tranz Metro Wairarapa Line passenger services service Maymorn, which provides connection to and from Wellington, the Hutt Valley and the Wairarapa — and strategically, a future life-line for tourist visitation to the railway. The facilities under construction at Maymorn will protect the Trust’s current rail vehicle fleet, and facilitate their future restoration, operation and maintenance. Plans have also been prepared and resource consent approved for a large station building incorporating a visitor centre, historic and interpretative displays, and a cafe. These facilities will play a central role in the Trust’s future operations, being the departure point for a journey back in time over the historic Rimutaka Incline.
Trust members installing rail onto inspection pit facilities inside the rail vehicle shed. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
The rail vehicle shed at Maymorn has been the primary project for the Trust over the last three years. A huge amount of design work, engineering consultation, planning and project management has gone into the structure. The vast majority of the foundation work, component fabrication and final construction has been undertaken by volunteers working in their spare time. The decision to replicate an original 1911 New Zealand Railways 2-road engine shed design has paid dividends in that the Maymorn station has a real railway depot “feel” about it. The building will also complement future heritage railway operations.
we are indebted to Rimutaka Charitable Trust for their continued support for the Rimutaka Incline Railway project, with considerable funding put into the rail vehicle shed in particular.
Whilst the exterior shell of the rail vehicle shed nears completion, attention has also been put into constructing future servicing facilities and a workshop extension attached to the south. The 15-metre long workshop structure will be of similar design to the rail vehicle shed and will give the appearance of a 4-road engine shed when viewed end-on. The rationale for the workshop is to provide space for a machine shop for future restoration and maintenance of locomotives, carriages and wagons.
There is a window of opportunity to efficiently construct the workshop, dovetailing onto structural work associated with the rail vehicle shed. Engineering approval and building consent have been relatively easy to obtain, in contrast to revisiting this work at a later date. Volunteers are also experienced with the required building work — but within two years this building work will be regulated and require licensed builders on the job. The workshop is also a condition of the Trust’s Resource Consent for rail activities at Maymorn.
Building our mainline track through the Maymorn yard towards Kaitoke is a tangible step we can make at this early stage in the railway’s development. The extent of the work achieved has been possible due to a great deal of support from the rail civil engineering industry. We are also fortunate to have Trust members skilled in both project management and track construction to plan and carry out this work. The extension of our future mainline track through the Maymorn station is helping to transform the current construction site into an operational base for our railway.
Major donations of track materials were received during the year from KiwiRail and Holcim (New Zealand) Limited, along with a donation towards ballast from Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. Sufficient rail, sleepers and ballast has been gifted to allow the Trust to extend the mainline and build the loop at Maymorn station. We are most thankful for this support and look forward to making further progress on extending our railway during 2011-2012.
On 8 and 9 March 2011 the Trust received in 320m3 of railway ballast, donated by Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd, with transport funded by Pelorus Trust. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Mainline track under construction, heading towards the pedestrian crossing at Maymorn. Our proposed destinations of Kaitoke and Summit lie beyond the hills seen in the distance. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Much work has also been put into the connection route between Maymorn and the heritage formation leading towards Tunnel Gully. The connection route is an essential component of the Rimutaka Incline Railway.
A preferred route has been identified and has been included in a draft Maymorn Structure Plan prepared for Upper Hutt City Council. Further work was undertaken in 2010-2011, leading to a finalised plan, and consultation was due to commence in August 2011.
The plan has the potential to make a direct impact on the Trust's Maymorn site and the connection route to the heritage formation near Tunnel Gully.
The structure plan proposes a multi-stage urban development for the Maymorn area, with a railway corridor for the Rimutaka Incline Railway climbing out of Maymorn station. We recommended that additional integration and connections be put in place so that the railway passes through a "railway reserve", highlighted and made prominent in the urban landscape — and so that visitors might be able to view the heritage railway operations first-hand from adjacent cycleways, paths and carriageways.
The railway reserve and associated walk and cycleway will enable additional connecting routes to be formed between the hub of the community — the railway station — the Greater Wellington Regional Council park land leading into Tunnel Gully, and the walkway proposed to be located along the historic railway route leading towards Mangaroa. This will reinforce and promote use of the existing Tranz Metro service for cycle and walking recreational activities to and from Maymorn station. Additionally, the Trust has incorporated a cycleway / walkway into its wider proposal for a heritage railway along the historic railway route to Kaitoke and Summit. Provided an adjacent cycle / path in the railway reserve will maintain the nature of the route as it passes through the Maymorn urban area. There will also be a significant public good in having the heritage railway operations viewable from the adjacent cycle / path.
We look forward to continuing discussions Upper Hutt City Council and work towards formalising the railway alignment as a railway reserve.
Heritage railway formation looking north from Maymorn on the climb to Tunnel Gully. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
An impression of how the railway reserve could look in elevation — with reserve, cycle / path, berm and carriageway elements. Drawing: Ben Calcott.
The Trust has been a licenced rail operator and rail network provider since 26 June 2009. During the 2010-2011 year operations have been bedded in, and the Rail Management team were preparing for a first annual safety assessment from New Zealand Transport Agency.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the Trustees for their substantial commitment to Rimutaka Incline Railway vision, and Trust members and friends who continue to support the railway both through donations and thousands of hours of voluntary effort per year. The Trust’s achievements to date have only been possible through their dedication and support.
Hugh McCracken
Chairperson
Within a few years we hope to be crossing this historic culvert on heritage formation between Maymorn and Tunnel Gully.
The Trust’s activities and railway operation is managed through four committees:
The Land, Site, Fundraising and Rail Management committees rotate through a fortnightly meeting appointment, so that each committee meets every 10 weeks.
The Trust continues to develop its operational base at Maymorn. We have a long-term lease of much of the former Maymorn railway yard from New Zealand Railway Corporation (trading as Ontrack / KiwiRail). It is an ideal location to from which to commence the railway, having potential to connect with the Wairarapa railway line, and being in close proximity to the former heritage railway route.
The connection route between Maymorn and the heritage formation leading towards Tunnel Gully has seen further work this year. Exploratory survey work was undertaken by Trust members, to a level sufficient to prove the feasibility of the alignment incorporated into the Maymorn Structure Plan (as discussed earlier in this report). Data obtained from the survey was used to model the landforms and property boundaries, and a route designed to make best use of the available landforms, conform to minimum curvature (100m radius) and maximum gradient (1 in 35) restrictions, and connect in with the KiwiRail corridor and the heritage railway formation respectively. Between all these design restrictions sufficient route length has been obtained to regain the heritage railway formation as it climbs towards Tunnel Gully. Whilst the route is at the limits of conventional railway design standards, is consistent with the remainder of the heritage route to Kaitoke and Summit.
Proposed alignment of connection route climbing out of Maymorn, showing possible integration into a network of cycle / pathways, connecting into a walkway along the heritage railway formation that heads to the south up the Mangaroa Valley, and both railway and walkway connecting into Tunnel Gully. Drawing: Ben Calcott.
As mentioned in the Chairperson’s report, the railway has been operating under a full rail licence since 26 June 2009. A high-level safety case documents the nature of the licensed rail activities, including risk analysis and other appendices, and a safety system, along with codes, standards, training documents and other incorporated items provide detail on systems, policies and procedures for the day-to-day operation.
The current extent of rail operations at the Maymorn site is rather limited, but most of the risks associated with larger operations are present and are managed in a professional manner. This lays the ground-work for safe operation of a more extensive operation.
A number of rail personnel have been certified for a number of core duties, including Shunter, Shunt Driver, Locomotive Engineer, Train Inspector, Train Manager, Steward, Track Inspector, Track Maintainer. Further applications for certifications are in progress, and we anticipate certifying further core positions in 2011-2012.
On-the-job training has been carried out during the year, with rail personnel constructing track under supervision, and interim inspection of operational rail vehicles.
An internal safety assessment of our rail operations was undertaken in May 2011, and an ordinary safety assessment was scheduled by New Zealand Transport Agency for August 2011.
Significant progress has been made with track laying at the Maymorn site this year, work concentrating on starting our future mainline, whilst progress was also made with turnouts and track leading into the rail vehicle shed.
Mainline track that was previously laid during 2009-2010 received further attention this year, with all remaining sleepers installed, all rails drilled and permanent joints fishplated. In March 2011 considerable co-ordination work was put into the delivery of donated ballast, ensuring that the mainline and loop areas were ready to receive and store the material.
Work also continued on the pedestrian crossing and associated fencing over summer 2010-2011, with the pedestrian crossing commissioned in January 2011. Once the crossing was commissioned we were able to extend track past the former temporary fencing locations. The fencing and gates at the crossing have been arranged so that occasional over-height house movements can still be accommodated.
Hugh and Ron fastening rail down to the full compliment of sleepers in January 2011. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Volunteers have constructed much of our future mainline through the Maymorn station yard. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Track connecting our future mainline with the rail vehicle shed and storage sidings is termed the “yard throat”. The yard throat includes a double-slip, two turnouts and an initial two tracks leading into the shed. Work has started on most of these items. Survey and design work has been completed to locate track centres and intersection points for the mainline, track structures and plain track.
Trust members working on refurbishing slip frogs, key to reassembly of our double-slip. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
A 91-lb double-slip is being refurbished and reassembled from a single slip purchased from KiwiRail in 2009. One slip frog was found to be in reasonable condition, whereas the second slip frog has required extensive work. Components from three frogs were identified, the frogs dismantled, point rails shortened and surfaces made true. Other components will be fabricated from plain rail, and the whole structure is planned to be assembled during 2011-2012. Once complete the way will be clear to construct the loop, a length of mainline to the south, and the ladder road.
Track leading into the rail vehicle shed on road 1 has been lifted to final height to clear the end wall foundations, requiring a similar lift inside the shed.
Twin tracks leading into the rail vehicle shed, road 1 turnout in the foreground.
Carriage A1916 stored inside the rail vehicle shed on the then partially-commissioned inspection pit. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
The Trust has brought together a collection of rail vehicles, many of which will in future take passengers on their journey over the Rimutaka Incline Railway. Other vehicles, such as the fleet of ballast wagons, will be used to build and maintain the railway line. Business needs, heritage value, authenticity and mechanical condition are some of the factors that have been considered when acquiring carriages, wagons, and latterly, locomotives.
The carriage fleet now totals seven, which when restored, will provide sufficient passenger accommodation for initial services. Carriage restoration work is pending completion of the rail vehicle shed and a thorough assessment of the fleet. A restoration plan will be developed, with priorities assigned based on carriage condition, anticipated traffic requirements and other factors. Restoration work will be hastened by facilities in our new workshop currently under construction.
On 4 December 2010 a second carriage, AL2044 (A1916), was brought into the rail vehicle shed, effectively protecting it from further deterioration. Four further 56-foot steel carriages and a guards van are currently stored outside in our secure compound, pending completion of the inspection pit facilities in the rail vehicle shed.
All operational rail vehicles are now located on permanent track.
In July the Trust purchased shunting locomotive Tr189 from KiwiRail. Thanks are due to members and Rotary Upper Hutt who made substantial donations towards the purchase and transport of the locomotive.
Tr189 was one of nine 20-tonne shunting locomotives built to this design at the New Zealand Railways Hillside Workshops in Dunedin during the 1970s. Working in the Manawatu for much of its life, it had been stored out of service in Wellington for over a year before being purchased by the Trust. Its road number was changed from 189 to 937 in the late 1970s, part of a system-wide renumbering associated with the introduction of a computerised Traffic Monitoring System (TMS).
The locomotive was transfered from Wellington to Hutt Workshops on Monday 26th July 2010, and on Friday 30th was hoisted by overhead crane onto a road transporter for the short road journey to our Maymorn site. Unloading involved two cranes, which placed the loco onto track leading into our rail vehicle shed. The locomotive has been stored in the shed since its arrival at Maymorn.
Pending closing in of the rail vehicle shed, the locomotive was cleaned down, bodywork repaired and repainted into a scheme closely resembling the original livery it received at Hillside Workshops during its construction.
A mechanical assessment has been undertaken to determine the condition of the locomotive, including all systems and components, present and missing. A team is drawing up a project plan to return the locomotive to operational order, which will require further funding to purchase a short list of missing components.
The Trust’s shunting locomotive TR937 arrives at Maymorn on 30 July 2010. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Global Volunteer Network volunteers sanding down the locomotive panelwork on 4 December 2010. From left to right: Jesse Lieberman, Ben Custer, Emily Gregson and Louise Bloch. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Ron Jones makes a start on painting the Trust's TR locomotive on 18th September 2010. The headstocks received the first attention, to address the light surface corrosion that had set in. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Shunting locomotive Tr189 standing outside our rail vehicle shed on 19 March 2011, sporting a new coat of paint. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
| Original No | TMS No | Year outshopped | Where built | Arrival date at Maymorn | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *added to stock during the 2010-2011 year. | |||||
| A189 | - | 1884 | NZR Workshops | 9 September 2009 | non-operational |
| A1896 | A56113 | 1941 | Otahuhu | 20 Dec 2005 | non-operational |
| A1914 | AL2044 | 1940 | Otahuhu | 21 Dec 2005 | non-operational |
| A1916 | A56247 | 1939 | Otahuhu | 7 Dec 2005 | non-operational |
| A1988 | A56750 | 1943 | Addington | 9 Dec 2005 | non-operational |
| A2000 | A56868 | 1940 | Addington | 8 Dec 2005 | non-operational |
| Aa1060 | - | 1909 | Petone | 4 May 2007 | non-operational |
| F605 | EA67715 | 1944 | Otahuhu | 23 Dec 2005 | non-operational |
| GM63 | ex-FM572 | 1977 | Mitsubishi, Japan | 3 April 2007 | non-operational |
| GM96 | ex-FM1070 | 1981 | Daewoo, Korea | 24 May 2006 | non-operational |
| GM97 | ex-FM1087 | 1981 | Daewoo, Korea | 20 May 2006 | non-operational |
| Kp1497 | KP6374 | 1961 | England | 27 July 2007 | operational |
| Kp2118 | KP12994 | 1965 | Mitsubishi, Japan | 9 August 2008 | operational |
| Kp2589 | KP17954 | 1966 | Mitsubishi, Japan | 8 August 2007 | non-operational |
| Kp3638 | ? | 1967 | Mitsubishi, Japan | 8 August 2007 | non-operational |
| Q1489 | Q8019 | 1953 | NZR | 23 July 2006 | operational |
| Q1534 | Q8407 | 1953 | NZR | 23 July 2006 | operational |
| Tr189* | TR937 | 1976 | Hillside | 30 July 2010 | non-operational |
| Wb292 | - | 1898 | Baldwin Locomotive Works #16172 | 9 August 2008 | non-operational |
| Wb299 | - | 1898 | Baldwin Locomotive Works #16175 | 9 August 2008 | non-operational |
| Wd356 | - | 1901 | Baldwin Locomotive Works #19260 | 23 July 2006 | non-operational |
| ww6955 | - | 1970s | East Town Workshops | 2009 | operational |
| Yc726 | YC308 | 1959 | NZR | 5 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc760 | YC654 | 1960 | NZR | 16 October 2007 | operational |
| Yc782 | YC1083 | 1959-1961 | NZR | 5 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc789 | YC1175 | 1959-1961 | NZR | 5 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc795 | YC1238 | 1959-1961 | NZR | 6 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc817 | YC1486 | 1959-1961 | NZR | 6 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc825 | YC1578 | 1959-1961 | NZR | 30 August 2007 | operational |
| Yc845 | YC1768 | 1961 | NZR | 30 August 2007 | operational |
| Yc877 | YC2139 | 1961 | NZR | 19 November 2007 | operational |
| Yc878 | YC2145 | 1961 | NZR | 28 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc891 | YC2289 | 1961 | NZR | 28 September 2007 | operational |
| Yc895 | YC2329 | 1961 | NZR | 31 October 2007 | operational |
| Yc896 | YC2335 | 1961 | NZR | 30 August 2007 | operational |
The 80-metre long, two-road rail vehicle shed is being constructed to securely store carriages, locomotives and other heritage rail vehicles, and enable their restoration, maintenance and future operation. It will eventually be fitted out with inspection pits throughout much of its length and concrete floors. Construction of the 15x10-metre workshop is under way at the Upper Hutt end.
Last sheet of wall cladding being placed onto the rail vehicle shed on 27 November 2010. Photo: Glenn Fitzgerald.
Construction work on the rail vehicle shed continued through the year. Wall cladding has been completed, the roof is "watertight" and the train doors have been installed. One of the two inspection pit roads is close to completion, and completion of the external shell is pending installation of a set of 3 pedestrian doors. As noted elsewhere, two carriages and a locomotive are now housed in the shed. Volunteers have also benefitted from the shelter afforded by the shed and an increasing amount of rail vehicle maintenance work is being undertaken within.
The list of tasks remaining to be tackled to complete the shed are now significantly reduced.These include:
A large order of cladding, flashings and gutters was placed in October 2010 following a generous grant from Rimutaka Trust. Within a few short weeks the long southern side of the shed was completed, including some complicated flashing around the main pedestrian door and foundation stone. Ridge capping and barge flashings were finished by the end of February 2011, effectively making the roof "watertight".
A short length of gutter has been placed on the south side of the shed, with more to follow.
Detail of work in progress on the ridgeline of the rail vehicle shed on 26 February 2011, with just two lengths of ridge capping left to install. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
A considerable amount of work has gone into the four bi-folding train doors, with all components fabricated by Trust members. Welding and blasting / priming was conducted off-site by subcontractors, and the assembled frames transported back to site for fitting to the shed frame. The door frames were then lifted into position and fully painted, followed by ColorSteel® cladding. Door opening mechanisms have been designed and will be installed as time and resources permit. With the train doors in place the shed is now closed in, improving the security of the rail vehicles housed within.
Three final train door frames were lifted lifted into position on 21 April 2011. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Work has continued on the 24-metre long inspection pit facility within the rail vehicle shed. A $12,500 grant towards this work received from Rimutaka Trust funded the pit foundation excavations, three beams that carry the pit columns, and the concrete floors to the south end of the shed.
Peter and Colin carefully lower a pit rail into position, linking up with rails previously laid on the floor beams. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
By 4 September 2010 all columns for road 2 had been put in place, studs set into the concrete with epoxy, thanks to funding received from Cossie Club Upper Hutt. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Carvan AL2044 was brought inside the shed on 4 December 2010, the first carriage to bear weight on the inspection pit, bringing the number of carriages inside the shed to two. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Work remaining to be done includes reinforcing mesh placement and pouring of concrete floors around road 2, as well as reinforcing placement, concrete formwork construction and concrete placement for the road 1 pit floor area and pit wall. All steelwork for road 1 has to be placed on the beam, accurately aligned, running rails brought in and placed in position.
Once completed the inspection pit facilities will be a tremendous asset for the Trust, enabling inspection, maintenance and repair activities to be carried out safely and efficiently. We are indebted to Rimutaka Charitable Trust, The Lottery Grants Board of New Zealand and Upper Hutt Cossie Club for supporting our work with these facilities.
Photo: Glenn Fitzgerald.
Work has continued on the workshop extension to the rail vehicle shed inbetween work on the train and pedestrian doors. Four small portal pod extensions have been added to the existing shed foundations, and a new row poured to the south side of the shed. A lot of of backfilling is required, but in the interim we plan to level out the foundation area with compacted fill. This will enable concrete trucks to access the wall sections and make the area safe for cherrypicker and other access equipment used for the main build.
Workshop foundation progress, with all eight concrete portal pods cast. Photo: Hugh McCracken.
Three of building inspections were carried out by Upper Hutt City Council, relating to pre-foundation concrete pour checks on reinforcing and concrete formwork.
The web site at www.rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz is the Trust’s primary mechanism for the dissemination of information, and research outputs. This continues to be of benefit to both membership and the general public.
Search engine relevance (as returned by www.google.co.nz on 24 September 2011):
Photographs of physical progress with the Rimutaka Incline Railway have been published on Flickr: Rimutaka Incline Railway, a web-2 site enabling user-generated content, community and collaboration. A number of photo sets have been created, the principle ones being Head of steel covering track laying and Maymorn rail vehicle shed, which has had over 12,000 views by visitors to date.
A Flickr badge is embedded on the Trust’s web site, which has shown the three most recent photographs in the Maymorn rail vehicle shed set. Other options are possible and will be explored in the future.
The Trust has a Twitter profile: @rimutakaincline, with a history of more than 250 tweets, and 145 followers. In return, we follow and interact with close to a hundred other railways, locomotives, local businesses, local identities, politicians, railfans, Trust members and other people.
Photo: Hugh McCracken.
The Trust again had a display at the Railex Exhibition, this year held at the TSB Bank Event Centre on the Wellington waterfront. A busy couple of days, with many people passing by our stand, and lots of conversations had with folk interested in our railway, and reminiscences of the old line over the Rimutaka’s. Our display featured current progress being made with the rail vehicle shed and mainline track at Maymorn, along with plans for stage 1 to Kaitoke.
In late 2010 the Trust presented an update of work done on the Rimutaka Incline Railway project and in particular, the work programme on our shunting locomotive, Tr189.
On 1 April 2011 a number of conference delegates visited our Maymorn site from the New Zealand Planning Institute Annual Conference Winds of change, as part of a Hutt Valley field trip sponsored by Upper Hutt City Council and Hutt City Council. Opportunity was had to present the vision of the project to the delegates, the substantial progress we have made with the rail vehicle shed, track laying and other structures. Particular interest was shown in the engineering plans prepared for the connection route and a number of suggestions were made as to how the railway could be integrated into the urban landscape.
It was an excellent opportunity to be able to present our project to planning professionals and we were thrilled to have the railway showcased as the centrepoint to the Maymorn Structure Plan.
Membership numbers total forty — a reasonable number considering the hard work involved in developing our Maymorn site. We plan to grow our membership base in 2011-2012. Membership has been available since the Trust’s incorporation in 2003.
Three newsletters were published during the year:
Newsletter 26 - September 2010
Newsletter 27 - December 2010
Newsletter 28 - April 2011
The newsletters were sent electronically to members and stakeholders wherever possible, and put up on the Trust’s website a short time after publication.
April 2011 brought about a change in our Trustees. We farewelled Alex Maciver, who had been a Trustee for a number of years. Alex brought a valuable set of skills to the Trust, including Project Engineering and knowledge of heritage railway operations. He put considerable energy into the Maymorn station development, which saw the site excavated, formation prepared and a good start made on our mainline track. A good deal of behind-the-scenes work was also undertaken on our connection route between Maymorn and Tunnel Gully, as well as work on the route between Tunnel Gully and Kaitoke. We wish him well in his new position in Melbourne.
In April we also welcomed Ben Calcott as a Trustee. Ben has been a hard-working Trust member, making a valuable contribution to our Maymorn Site committee and has spent many long hours working through our Safety Case. Ben is also Operations Manager for the railway. In his spare time he is a railway signalling designer at KiwiRail.
Formal Trust meetings were held in August, October and December 2010, February, April and June 2011, with Special Trust meetings called from time to time to consider specific or pressing matters.
During the year a number of funding applications were made to: Cossie Club of Upper Hutt, New Zealand Community Trust, Infinity Foundation, Hutt Mana Charitable Trust, The Community Trust of Wellington and Rimutaka Trust. Amounts granted are listed in the financial statements.
Track materials were donated by KiwiRail and Holcim (New Zealand) Ltd for track materials and ballast respectively.
We are also grateful for ongoing financial support gifted by the Rotary Club of Upper Hutt, funding a substantial portion of the purchase of shunting locomotive Tr189.
We are most grateful to Trust members and supporters who have generously donated funds and materials.
The work of the Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust would not be possible without the ongoing support of local, regional and central organisations, and of course, the hard work of many volunteers. Support comes in many different forms, including donations and grants, both financial and in-kind, pro-bono technical and professional support and volunteer activity. We would like to thank the following organisations and people for their support:
The Trust gratefully acknowledges the support of Upper Hutt City Council.
The Trust would like to thank the following principal sponsors and partners for their support in this and previous years:
| NZ Lottery Grants Board | Protection of carriages and other rail vehicles through grant for rail vehicle shed |
|---|---|
| Rimutaka Charitable Trust | Continued support shown to the Trust, including significant funding towards the rail vehicle shed, carriage fleet and railway station design. |
| The Community Trust of Wellington | Protection of carriages and other rail vehicles through grant for rail vehicle shed. |
| Hurlstone Earthmoving Limited | Excavation of railway formation at Maymorn station. |
| Rotary Club of Upper Hutt | Continued support shown to the Trust, including transport of sleeping carriage Aa1060 to site, purchase and transport of historic water vats and substantial contribution to purchase of shunting locomotive Tr189. |
| KiwiRail | Donation of track materials for mainline and loop, Maymorn. |
| Holcim NZ Ltd | Donation of ballast for mainline and loop, Maymorn. |
| Baldwin Steam Trust | Lease of Baldwin steam locomotives dating from 1898 and 1901. |
| Pelorus Trust | Cladding for rail vehicle shed, Transport of ballast wagons to Maymorn |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Community Trust | Sponsorship of ballast wagons |
| Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand | Ballast for mainline, loop and station throat: Maymorn station |
| Upper Hutt Lions Club | Transport of carriage bogies from Huntly to Maymorn |
| Ron Greenwood Environmental Trust | Native tree establishment projects at Maymorn and Summit. |
| Upper Hutt City Council | Assistance with building consent and building inspection fees for rail vehicle shed |
|---|---|
| Paino and Robertson | Legal advice |
| Dunning Thornton Consultants | Discounted engineering work associated with rail vehicle shed and workshop |
| KiwiRail Network | Donation and discounted rates for surplus track, signalling and maintenance equipment |
| Forest and Bird, Upper Hutt branch | Native tree establishment plantings at Maymorn |
| Chris Northmore | Use of light truck and hiab |
| John de Graaff | Assistance with concrete floor finishing in the rail vehicle shed. |
| Trust members | We are indebted to Trust members for their significant contribution of voluntary work and donations. |
Financial statements for the 2010-2011 year are available from our website at www.rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz/about-us.html.
TR937 passing the site of the former Mangaroa station, en route from Hutt Workshops to Maymorn on Friday 30 July 2010. Note the old loading bank in the left foreground. Photo: Hugh McCracken.