Rimutaka Incline Railway

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Stage 3 - Summit to Cross Creek

The jewel in the crown, reinstatement of the former Fell-worked Rimutaka Incline will give the railway the potential to be an internationally significant tourist attraction. The Fell patented centre-rail system was employed by purpose-built Fell locomotives to haul trains up gradients steeper than that which conventional locomotives could handle. The Incline was worked for 77 years (from 1878 - 1955), outlasting other examples of Fell adhesion working by decades.

Key to the reinstatement will be the construction of at least two new Fell locomotives and Fell brake vans in order to faithfully recreate multiple Fell-worked trains. A wider scope of consultation and planning will be involved in this stage, some of which has been initiated.

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Project

Reinstatement Project.

Stage 1.

Stage 2.

Stage 3.

Stage 4.

Proposed Operating Timetable.