In this issue:

Grants totalling $75,000 approved for Rail Vehicle Shed.

The Chairperson’s inclinations.

Making tracks.

Want to see some track at Maymorn? Here's your opportunity to help us get started.

New Zealand Community Trust grant for fence.

Wagons Roll!.

Maymorn progress.

Construction of Pedestrian Crossing.

Visit to Carterton Community and Railway Museum.

Upcoming events | Contacts | Electronic Copy

Grants totalling $75,000 approved for Rail Vehicle Shed

The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust has had two grants totalling $75,000 approved for a rail vehicle shed at Maymorn. The Community Trust of Wellington has approved a grant of $50,000 in conjunction with a $25,000 Rimutaka community grant from Trust House Charitable Trust. The Trust is grateful for the confidence shown by these organisations in our project. The funding will enable us to construct a functional shed that we can use to protect heritage railway vehicles and at the same time give us an all-weather working base for the project.

The rail vehicle shed will protect, conserve, and allow for the future restoration and maintenance of the Trust’s current fleet of heritage carriages. It will also provide similar facilities for steam and diesel locomotives that will be based at the railway in the future.

The shed is being modelled on the “NZR Standard Drawing Two Road Engine Shed” of 1911. A number of sheds were built to this or similar designs around the country, including and most relevantly, Upper Hutt and Masterton. The Trust wishes the shed to conform to key features of the historical design as far as is practicable, including: roof pitch, door style and position, barge boards and eaves. Essentially the end elevations of the shed will closely match the old design, except for the provision of current rail vehicle clearances at the main doors. Windows will be omitted primarily for security reasons, but also to reduce framing and joinery costs.

Having secured $75,000 of funding, the Trust plans to re-evaluate its options for building the rail vehicle shed. This will most likely involve a greater amount of input from volunteers, and the construction of the shed in stages. Drawings for the shed are being reproduced with a graphics application, incorporating a few detail changes prior to engineering sign-off.

The Trust will also reapply to the Lottery Grants Board Environment and Heritage Committee, having now secured partnership funding.

The Chairperson’s inclinations

Rail vehicle shed

Months of concerted effort have paid dividends in the form of two grants totalling $75,000 received for the construction of a rail vehicle shed at Maymorn. The Trust is extremely grateful for the continuing support given by the Rimutaka Trust with a grant of $25,000 towards the construction of the shed. This support assisted us in securing a second grant from the Community Trust of Wellington.

We are now putting the finishing touches on a reapplication to the Lotteries Grants Board Environment and Heritage Committee, and hope to be successful this time, since now we have secured a significant amount of partnership funding. A rethink has been had on some aspects of the project, and we plan to put a considerable amount of voluntary effort into the construction — to get the most out of the funds that we have available to us. The core principles remain — that the shed will:

• Provide secure storage and protection for the Trust’s fleet of heritage carriages
• Incorporate key features of heritage engine shed designs
• Provide an all-weather base for the Trust at Maymorn (sorely needed!)
• Provide workshop and restoration facilities
• Have space for public displays.

The rail vehicle shed will be a focal point for the Trust, a nucleus from which its operations can grow. Plans for the station precinct are progressing well, including a full set of plans and engineering drawings for a replica heritage station building, a station platform, track, car parking, landscaping and lighting plans — all necessary components for a functional heritage railway precinct. As soon as the Lottery Grant application is submitted, attention will turn to finalising Resource Consent requirements for the development, including consultation prior to completion and submission of documents. All going well we hope to be in a position to commence construction of the rail vehicle shed in autumn 2007.

Sponsor a length of track

The Trust is launching a ‘Sponsor a length of track’ campaign, where people have the opportunity to have a permanent record of their support for the Rimutaka Incline Railway.

Elsewhere in this newsletter, and on our web site, you will find details on the sponsorship options, which give opportunities at entry, medium and high ends of the range. Automatic payment options are also available, which we hope will bring the sponsorship packages within reach of most people.

There are some attractive locations for sponsored track that will become available in the not-too-distant future, including our mainline alongside a station platform, the pedestrian crossing area near the Tranz Metro station, and track associated with the rail vehicle shed.

There are a number of proposals for recognising sponsors’ contributions, including an engraved plate that will be affixed to the relevant sleeper, a register of donors, a ‘virtual locator’ which can be searched on our web site, and a certificate. For sponsors on the ‘Gold’ scheme there will also be acknowledgement on a plaque to be on public display at the station, and the option of a biography (which could end up on our web site, discovery centre etc). If these options are all a bit daunting, we can also accommodate complete anonymity / completely anonymous donors as well!

The Trust looks forward to your support — both by taking out a sponsorship option yourself, and by recommending and selling the sponsorship scheme to others. With your help we can get things under way!

The first delivery of track materials is expected by mid-November, comprising nearly one hundred concrete sleepers from the Stresscrete concrete sleeper batching plant at Hamilton. We would like to acknowledge the support of Toll Rail, who have made transport available to the Trust at very competitive rates. Full credit must also go to Glenn Fitzgerald for coordinating and liaising with Stresscrete, Toll Rail and Hammond Transport of Upper Hutt. Expect more news shortly!

Ballast wagons

Also reported elsewhere in this newsletter is an announcement that the Trust has registered its interest to Ontrack for up to twelve 4-wheel ballast wagons for its future construction requirements. They will be withdrawn from service in early 2007 as new ‘Yj’ class bogie ballast wagons enter service.

Ontrack have been most generous in making surplus wagons available at scrap rates, which means that a 7–tonne ‘Yc’ or ‘Yf’ wagon will cost approximately $1,200 plus transport. We figure that a rake of wagons will be required to relay an 18km railway, rather than just a handful — and this is the opportunity to secure what is needed.

The Trust needs your help to secure ballast wagons. Sponsorship of individual wagons would be a most welcome gesture and we would happily entertain naming rights, logos or other signs put on wagons to acknowledge your support. Please contact the Trust if you can help sponsor a wagon: enquiries@rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz or telephone 021 701 551 — we would be glad to hear from you.

Sponsor a length of track!

Help us to make tracks! The Trust invites you to sponsor a length of track. An opportunity to have a permanent record of your support for the Rimutaka Incline Railway. Plain track will be laid with either concrete or timber sleepers, depending on quality and availability considerations. An initial supply of suitable concrete sleepers has been sourced for initial track requirements at Maymorn.

As a sponsor you will receive a certificate recognising your contribution to the Rimutaka Incline Railway. Details that identify your sleeper will be included, along with the plan type.

You will also be able to find the exact location of the sponsored length of track, and view a photo of the track in its surroundings by using the new virtual track locator feature on our web site.

There are 3 levels of sponsorship: Bronze, Silver and Gold. To participate in this fundraising opportunity, check out the Trust’s web page: Sponsor a length of track! Or, if you are receiving a print copy of this newsletter a brochure will have been enclosed.

Current track requirements are for future mainline, loop and siding tracks at Maymorn, 6km northeast of Upper Hutt. A number of buildings and structures require railway track to function, including the planned station building, platform, rail vehicle shed, water tanks and turntable.

Your contribution through sponsoring a length of track will make a difference!

Virtual locator

The location of sponsored sleepers will be accessible on the Trust’s web site, as depicted in the screen-shot below:

Wagons roll!

Arrival of “Q” wagons

Our fleet of rail vehicles has grown again in recent weeks, with the arrival of two “Q” class coal hopper wagons, that had previously been at Steam Incorporated at Paekakariki. The wagons are: “Q” 1439 (TMS number: Q8019) and “Q” 1534 (TMS number: Q8407) both built for New Zealand Railways in 1953. These are on lease from the Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.

The two “Q” wagons were transported to the site from their former home of Steam Incorporated, Paekakariki on 22 and 23 July.

The Trust eventually plans to restore the wagons. Once restored it is highly likely that the wagons would be put to use in ballasting operations associated with construction of the railway. The wagons complement the growing collection of rolling stock at Maymorn.

History

The “Q” class hopper wagons were principally used on the West Coast of the South Island to transport coal from mines to the ports at Westport and Greymouth. “Q” wagons were typically seen in long rakes at the wharf sidings, or “up country” in unit trains heading to and from the mines. At Greymouth, the NZR serviced coal mines at Dobson, Brunner, Rewanui, Blackball and Roa, and at Westport mines at Cascade, Conns Creek, Granity, Ngakawau and Seddonville (and many other locations).

Notably, the lines between Dunollie and Rewanui, and Blackball and Roa, were equipped with Fell centre rails for braking purposes. Tank locomotives of the “W”, Wa”, “We” and “Ww” classes worked the inclines, being fitted with centre-rail brakes. Locomotives of the “W” and “We” classes also originally worked on the Rimutaka Incline, two “We” class having been built specifically for that purpose in 1902.

The Denniston Incline inland from Westport was also worked with “Q” wagons. A balanced rope arrangement used the weight of full wagons descending the incline to pull empty wagons uphill. Conventional arrangements were used between Conns Creek, Waimangaroa and Westport. Tank locomotives were also associated with these trains, notably those of the “Wb” and “Ww” classes.

The “Q” wagons were built in large numbers from 1896 onwards, with around 1,000 built to eleven different designs. They were an advance over earlier fixed-hopper wagons in that the hopper could be lifted off the wagon to discharge their load directly into ship holds. In addition to coal traffic, other commodities were also handled by the wagons, including fertiliser and ballast.

The recent arrivals — “Q” 1439 and 1534 are both of the “Q11” type, some 250 of which were built between 1948 and 1953.

Ballast Wagons

The Trust is proposing to purchase up to twelve 4-wheel ballast wagons from Ontrack. The opportunity has come about from Ontrack’s programme to build 40 “YJ” bogie ballast wagons, which will make the current fleet of 4-wheel bogie wagons obsolete. The wagons are used throughout the national rail network — and it is hoped that suitable numbers will be decommissioned in the lower North Island.

The Trust’s plans to construct and maintain an 18km railway will require a rake of ballast wagons. This is a rare and not-to-be repeated opportunity to acquire these rail vehicles.

A number of funding options are being explored in order to secure the wagons, including sponsorship of individual wagons. $1,200 plus transport can secure your naming rights on one of these wagons. Please contact the Trust if you can assist.

Maymorn Progress

Hutt-Mana Charitable Trust

What has now been coined the “Hutt-Mana fence” has taken shape over the winter months, thanks to the dedicated efforts of a small number of Trust members.

During August and September, the final few fence posts were positioned and concreted into place, followed by carrier wires and link mesh. Over the course of a couple of weekends the fence quickly took shape. A gap is being left near the pedestrian crossing until it is completed and commissioned.

Visit to Carterton Community and Railway Museum

On Sunday 3 September we paid a visit to the Carterton Community and Railway Museum. We timed our visit to permit travel from Wellington and the Hutt Valley by scheduled morning Tranz Metro train service to Featherston, to give an additional dimension to the journey.

Contacts

Full contact details may be had on the Trust’s website at www.rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz/contacts.html

Upcoming events

Rail Vehicle Shed evening — Wednesday 31 January 2007, 7:30pm.

A chance to view plans and discuss details about the rail vehicle shed project for Maymorn.

Meet at Level 1 Meeting Room, Upper Hutt City Council, 838–842 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt. Access is from the car park to rear of the Council building, 100m east of H₂OExtreme. Light refreshments will be provided.

Electronic copy

An electronic copy of this newsletter will be available on the Trust’s website at www.rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz/member-pages/newsletter-17.html from 30 November 2006. Further copies can be printed, or images viewed in colour (where applicable).