In this issue:

Construction starts on Rail Vehicle Shed.

The Chairperson’s inclinations.

Transfer of WB locos.

The water vats.

RailEx 2008.

Sponsor a length of track.

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

Maymorn progress.

Upcoming events and work parties | Contacts | Electronic Copy

Looking back….

Construction starts on Rail Vehicle Shed

Construction is well under way on the Trust’s Rail Vehicle Shed at Maymorn. The first four steel portals were lifted into place on Saturday 23 August. Excavation of foundations commenced in late May, and the first concrete was poured on 6 June. Visit the Maymorn Rail Vehicle Shed Flickr Set for the latest photos. And take a look at progress in our photo essay later in this newsletter.

The Chairperson’s inclinations — The impossible just takes a little longer…

Speech — Rail Vehicle Shed foundation stone ceremony.

Greetings

E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi o te motu, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Nga mihi o te tau kia koutou.

Thank you Clark Simmonds, for your words of introduction. Welcome to:

• The Honourable Paul Swain, MP for Rimutaka,
• Councillor Heather Newell
• Councillors,
• Tom Jones, Bruce Bold and other Trustees of the Rimutaka Trust
• Representatives from the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board
• Representatives from The Community Trust of Wellington
• Representatives from ONTRACK (and KiwiRail),
• Other Distinguished guests
• Ladies and Gentlemen.

Welcome

On behalf of the Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust, I am delighted to welcome you to Maymorn for our foundation stone unveiling ceremony. Today we are celebrating another milestone in the project to reinstate the Rimutaka Incline as a heritage railway — which has the potential to be a major tourist attraction for Upper Hutt and the Wellington region.

The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust was formed in 2003 with the vision to build a sanctuary for steam on the doorstep of New Zealand’s capital city. The old government railway route over the Rimutaka’s that closed in 1955 was an eccentric anachronism that had battled on well past its use-by date — and was unique in being the last Fell-worked adhesion railway in the world. Excursion trains would see up to five Fell locomotives battling up the grade from Cross Creek to Summit, and for those who experienced it, was a sight and sound that they would never forget. It was and will again be an experience of a lifetime, a uniquely Wellington experience and arguably the best way of keeping this precious memory alive.

About the Maymorn project

Back to the Maymorn project — we have wasted little time since gaining Resource Consent — as you can see with the building works in front of you.

The Resource Consent, however, has given approval for development of the entire railway precinct, which includes:

• The rail vehicle shed
• Planned extension and additions to the rail vehicle shed, including workshop facilities
• A sizeable station building within which public and passenger facilities will be located,
• Water vats, signals, signal box
• Services, including road, car parking etc

The consent took a significant amount of time to secure, but gave us a valuable insight into some of the intricacies of the Resource Management Act...

The rail vehicle shed has been so named and described, as it will house both carriages and locomotives, until an additional locomotive shed can be built. It is, however, based on an original New Zealand Railways design dating from 1911, replicating the principle dimensions and proportions.

A guiding principal for the Maymorn development is to achieve heritage outcomes for every structure — so that the facilities compliment the heritage rail vehicles, and provide a heritage experience for visitors. We have also incorporated modern facilities that would be the envy of railwaymen working in those old engine sheds, including inspection pits, a 24-metre length that incorporates pits both within and outside of the rails and an insulated machine shop. A link with the past, however, is that the facility is without mains power — we are still working on an affordable solution for that!

Once the shed is completed we will move carriages and locomotives inside to give them protection from the elements, and keep them out of harm’s way. We will also be able to commence a restoration programme, and hope to attract and retain volunteers with the flash new facilities. Already on site we have six carriages, including a wooden clad sleeping carriage built at Petone Workshops in 1909, a guards van, and three Baldwin steam locomotives, built in 1898 and 1901 of classes that used to work between Wellington and Summit.

Plans for construction

Over the past couple of months we have put a huge amount of energy into building work, completing much of the shed foundations. Four portals have been put up, and we hope by the end of the day tomorrow to have clad a first section of roof. This in itself will be greatly appreciated by volunteers, and should assist greatly with remaining building work.

The irony of the current situation is that as soon as we get the roof on we are bound to be into fine weather — but perhaps I am just saying that to play with the mind of Mother Nature…

Further portal frames will be up in the not too distant future, and I am sure that the building process will gather momentum as we get into a rhythm and pattern.

Over the Summer months we will work on the inspection pits — the roof will be greatly welcomed to provide much needed shade — as it can get fairly hot at Maymorn in the Summer!

The project has involved many challenges, right from the requirements gathering and design phase, drafting the plans and liaising with our structural engineers and working through the building code. We’re also not shy of major earthworks, concrete construction, fabrication of structural steel — my lasting memory of last summer was countless days spent in my back yard marking out, drilling and cutting up to 500 cleats and plates for the structural steel work!

Thanks

This activity could not possibly have taken place without the assistance of a wide range of people and organisations.

We are indebted for the support given by the funders:

• New Zealand Lottery Grants Board
• The Community Trust of Wellington
• Rimutaka Trust (who have backed this project since its inception)
• Members of the Trust and friends who have willingly donated time, materials and financial support

We are also grateful for the support shown to the project by ONTRACK, through entering into a licence agreement with us for the activities at the site, and through the Resource Consent process.

Upper Hutt City Council have also given support to the project through a significant reduction in consent fees, and we look forward to working with the Council as we plan the next stages of the project.

We would also like to thank Vikki and Stephen of FusionArt, Upper Hutt, who have sponsored the foundation stone — a big thank you.

We also thank Hammond Crane and Cartage for assistance in putting the initial portals up — and acknowledge the supply of materials and services from a good number of Hutt Valley businesses firms, much of it at friendly rates.

Last but not least — the support of partners and family, long-suffering with our countless meetings, planning sessions, steel-working activities in what really ought to be a quiet family space in the back yard, and eventual appearance after long gruelling days at the site (usually followed by ‘passing out’ on a comfy chair in the lounge!)

I will leave you with one last thought:

“The impossible just takes a little longer…”

regards, Hugh McCracken

Transfer of WB locos

On a snowy August 2008 morning Wb 292 and Wb 299 arrived at Maymorn from Paekakariki. Their journey here begun about 50 years ago when they were dumped into a river near Seddonville on the west coast of the south island as river protection.

In 1989 Hugh McCracken salvaged the two engines and moved them north with the intention of restoring them to service. The locomotives are stripped to components, frames and boilers being the largest recognisable portions.

Twelve Wb class 2-6-2T tank engines were built by Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, U.S.A. for New Zealand Railways. Two, numbers 297 and 298 were initially allocated to Wellington, where they worked trains between Wellington and Summit. Following the introduction of Wd class 2-6-4T tank locomotives in 1901, having greater coal bunker capacity, the two Wb class were transferred to Whangarei and Westport.

Wb 292 and Wb 299 were the last survivors of their class, having spent more than fifty years hauling coal trains at Westport.

Returning these locomotives to steam along their classmates' former stamping ground between Upper Hutt and Summit will be a huge achievement.

Railex 2008

The Trust had a display at the recent RailEx exhibition held in Porirua over 22-23 November. As with previous years we had a 1:1 scale display of future infrastructure. This year we had an operational motor trolley mounted on a section of elevated inspection pit, as will be installed in the rail vehicle shed at Maymorn. There was a lot of interest shown in our display as a result, including a number of ex-railwaymen commenting on their experiences with motor trolleys in days gone by!

The water vats

A tremendous opportunity has come up to secure three 4000-gallon timber water vats for the Rimutaka Incline. These vats are an exact match to those formerly used on the Wairarapa line. We plan to install one at Maymorn and store the others for future use at Kaitoke and/or Summit.

The vats have been in storage at Ohakune since the end of steam on the North Island Main Trunk are in excellent order considering their age (nigh on 100 years).

We have secured two water vats through donations received to date. On 1 December we started work on preparing the two vats for transport, as seen in the photo below. Funds are still required for purchase of the third vat, transport and installation at Maymorn.

We would be grateful for any pledges of funding assistance for these vats — please email hugh.mccracken@rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz, phone 021 701 551 — or mail to P O Box 39-299, Wellington 5045. Pledge / cheque / bank deposit welcomed (bank details can be forwarded to you) — donations to the Trust are tax deductible!

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!

Maymorn Progress

Rail vehicle shed photo essay part II – erecting the first portals.

Upcoming events and work parties

Maymorn site: every Saturday, 9am – 5pm.

We have a big work programme leading into construction of the rail vehicle shed, including additional security fences, and track for our ballast wagons. We need your help — whether you can attend on the odd occasion, or on a more regular basis. Contact one of the Trustees for more information.

Maymorn Work Week: 31 January – 7 February 2009.

We’re planning to put in a week of solid graft on the rail vehicle shed the first week of February 2009. Work will focus on cladding the shed, and pit construction within. We plan to set up an authentic railway construction camp experience for the week (with some modern facilities thrown in for the townies…). If you cannot make it for the whole week, any time you can put in will be welcomed!

Please RSVP to hugh.mccracken@rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz.

Contacts

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

• phone 021 701 551,
• email: enquiries@rimutaka-incline-railway.org.nz
• or by mail: Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust, P O Box 39-299, Wellington 5045.

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-22.html from 15 December 2008. Further copies can be printed, or images viewed in colour (where applicable).

Looking back…