Railway preservation in New Zealand

Railway preservation in New Zealand is the preservation of historically significant facets of New Zealand's rail transport history. The earliest recorded preservation attempt took place in 1925, although the movement itself did not start properly until 1960.

Early preservation efforts in New Zealand were restricted to static public display of locomotives, and it is believed the first was Double FairlieE class locomotive E 175 Josephine outside the Dunedin Railway Station in 1925.^[1] After this, the preservation movement entered a hiatus until the founding of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society in 1944, which established branches throughout the country. The first act of active railway preservation was started by the NZR&LS Otago Branch when they purchased a small 9-tonne Fowler 0-4-0T tank locomotive built in 1921 and formerly used by the Public Works Department as their N^O 540, from the Otago Harbour Board for use on the fledgeling Ocean Beach Railway, established in 1963.^[2]

Similar works were soon started in Christchurch by the NZR&LS Canterbury Branch at their new Ferrymead Railway in Christchurch,^[3] the NZR&LS Auckland Branch at their Glenbrook Vintage Railway^[4] and the NZR&LS Wellington Branch at their Silver Stream Railway. A railway museum was established at Te Awamutu by the NZR&LS Waikato Branch. However, this period also saw the breakaway of the NZR&LS Auckland and Canterbury Branches to become the Railway Enthusiasts Society and the Canterbury Railway Society respectively, although they retained an affiliation with the NZR&LS.^{[nb 1]}

During the period from 1960 to 1979, the rail preservation scene began to increase as more railway museums and groups were established, helped in part by the closure of rural branch lines by New Zealand Railways. In this category, railway museum groups were set up by the Pleasant Point Museum and Railway at Pleasant Point and the Ashburton Railway and Preservation Society at Tinwald Domain near Ashburton in Canterbury. These groups at the time were attempting to save part of the fabric of rural branch lines that had been operated by New Zealand Railways but were being closed down.

As the replacement of steam was accelerated during this period and was completed in 1971,^[2] other groups were initiated to preserve the mainline locomotives and rolling stock of NZR. The first group to do so was Steam Incorporated, based out of the former Paekakariki locomotive depot site just north of Wellington. The Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland also began to accept railway vehicles for preservation,^[5] in conjunction with the Bush Tramway Club which was preserving former industrial locomotives used on the bush tramways of New Zealand.^[6]

Following the end of steam in 1971, NZR placed a total steam ban on the national network, with the exception of its own heritage operation, the famous Kingston Flyer which began operation between Lumsden and Kingston on the Kingston Branch in that year. This ban required that if steam locomotives were to operate in New Zealand, they would be confined to either heritage railways, museums, or private sites. During this time, the majority of groups established began to expand their operations as NZR progressively modernised, and in some cases were able to extend their running lines or establish museum-type displays to showcase their rolling stock.

In 1977 the National Federation of Railway Societies was formed to provide a cohesive network between the different groups. This group would work as a coordinator and organiser in later years between different groups.

In dieser Zeit entstand auch der Otago Excursion Train Trust (OETT) , der 1978 gegründet wurde, um Ausflugszüge auf der malerischen Otago Central Railway anzubieten . Anfangs verkehrten diese Züge mit Waggons und Lokomotiven der New Zealand Railway (NZR), später erwarb der OETT jedoch einen eigenen Fuhrpark von der NZR. Die Waggons wurden von Auszubildenden und Freiwilligen der Regierung zunächst am Bahnhof Burnside und später im Nordbahnhof von Dunedin überholt. Steam Incorporated und die Railway Enthusiasts Society schlossen sich dieser Gruppe an und boten ähnliche Ausflüge mit NZR-Diesellokomotiven, aber eigenen Waggons an.

1985 hob die NZR (New Zealand Railways) anlässlich des 100-jährigen Jubiläums des Baubeginns der North Island Main Trunk das Dampflokverbot auf . Ein Dampfsonderzug von Wellington nach Auckland wurde mit den Lokomotiven K ^A 945 von Steam Incorporated und J ^A 1250 der RES ( Railway Electric Railway) gefahren. Der Zug bestand aus einem gemischten Wagenpark von Steam Inc. und RES. Da die NZR ihre Wagen noch rot lackierte, verwendeten die beiden Eisenbahngesellschaften ihre eigenen Lackierungen, überwiegend braun oder gelb.

Obwohl sich das Tempo der Erhaltungsmaßnahmen in den frühen 1980er Jahren und darüber hinaus verlangsamte, wurden mehrere weitere Gruppen gegründet, um längere Nebenstrecken sowie den eher traditionellen, museumsorientierten Betrieb zu erhalten. Die Weka Pass Railway in North Canterbury, die Bay of Islands Vintage Railway in Northland, die in Otago ansässigen Dunedin Railways und die Goldfields Steam Train Society in der Bay of Plenty wurden alle in den frühen 1980er Jahren mit von der NZR ausgemusterten Lokomotiven gegründet. Im Fall der Dunedin Railways (ehemals Taieri Gorge Railway Limited) wurde sie von der OETT und dem Stadtrat von Dunedin gegründet, um den 64 Kilometer langen Abschnitt der Otago Central Railway zwischen Middlemarch und Wingatui durch die Taieri-Schlucht für den Personenverkehr zu erhalten, nachdem die New Zealand Railways Corporation die Strecke 1990 stillgelegt hatte.

Im Jahr 1988 beteiligten sich zahlreiche Denkmalschutzgruppen an den Feierlichkeiten zum 125-jährigen Jubiläum von Ferrymead in Christchurch, um an die Eröffnung der ersten öffentlichen Eisenbahnlinie in Neuseeland vor 125 Jahren zu erinnern.

Mit der Außerdienststellung der Diesellokomotiven der ersten Generation wurde 1983 in Christchurch die Diesel Traction Group gegründet, um diese Lokomotiven zu erhalten. Bis 1990 besaß die Gruppe vier Lokomotiven an ihrem Standort in Ferrymead, die alle von English Electric gebaut worden waren. Andere Gruppen und Privatpersonen begannen, weitere Diesellokomotiven der ersten Generation zu erwerben, um ihre Flotten zu erweitern, so zum Beispiel die beiden Diesellokomotiven der Baureihe D A ^von Steam Incorporated , die 1988 gekauft wurden. Auch andere Privatpersonen erwarben ähnliche Lokomotiven für die Nachwelt und stellten sie an etablierten historischen Stätten auf. Die NZR wählte ebenfalls zahlreiche Diesel- und Elektrolokomotiven sowie zwei Waggons für ihre eigene historische Flotte aus.

In dieser Zeit entwickelte sich Ian Welchs Mainline Steam Trust zu einem Betreiber historischer Eisenbahnen mit einer Flotte erhaltener ehemaliger NZR-Dampflokomotiven. Ebenfalls in dieser Periode entstanden weitere Vereinigungen wie die Oamaru District Steam & Rail Society, die Grand Tapawera Railroad Company/ Nelson Railway Society , die Schmalspurbahn Blenheim Riverside Railway sowie Interessengruppen wie die Pahiatua Railcar Society . Einige Gruppen, wie die Gisborne City Vintage Railway und die Feilding and District Steam Rail Society, wurden gegründet, um jeweils eine bestimmte Lokomotive zu erhalten, in diesem Fall die W ^A 165 in Gisborne und die W ^AB 794 der NZR&LS in Ferrymead.

Zwischen 1990 und 2000 entstanden nur wenige neue Gruppen. NZRs Nachfolger, Tranz Rail , stellte zwar weiteres Rollmaterial für Museumsbahnvereine zur Verfügung, doch aufgrund von Materialknappheit mussten einige Fahrzeuge vorübergehend zurückgerufen werden. Um den Lokomotivmangel auszugleichen, wurden historische Diesellokomotiven von einer Privatperson geleast. In dieser Zeit wurde die NFRS zur Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand (FRONZ), um ihre Mitglieder aus dem Eisenbahn- und Straßenbahnsektor widerzuspiegeln. 1991 wurde der Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand unter dem Vorsitz des ehemaligen NZR-Managers Euan McQueen gegründet, um ehemalige NZR-Gebäude und -Rollmaterial zu erhalten und an andere Gruppen zu verpachten. ^{[ 2 ] [ 7 ]} Der Rail Heritage Trust war Vorreiter des Konzepts des „historischen Rollmaterials“, das von Tranz Rail an verschiedene Museumsbahnvereine in ganz Neuseeland verpachtet wurde. Mittlerweile sind über 200 solcher Fahrzeuge verpachtet. ^{[ 7 ]}

The most ambitious heritage project to date is the Rimutaka Incline Railway, which proposes to construct from scratch a railway line over an existing historic formation abandoned in 1955. This is the route of the former Rimutaka railway and Rimutaka Incline over a distance of some 20 km, including 5 km of the 1 in 15 incline worked by the Fell centre-rail system. Although the Taieri Gorge Railway in Dunedin is a much longer and successful heritage railway at 60 km length, it has the advantage that all its track was still in place when it was set up in 1990. The Rimutaka proposal faces many obstacles from the construction of new track and formation rehabilitation works, to the building of new locomotives of the Fell type. The project is in the planning stages and it will be some years before any construction starts.

Another ambitious project is currently being undertaken by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Trust, which has recovered the remains of WMR No. 9/NZR N 453 and aims to restore it to full operational condition. Although four ex-WMR coaches and a small number of wagons have survived into preservation, it was believed for many years that no Wellington and Manawatu Railway locomotives were still extant. ^{[nb 2]} However, the remains of WMR N^O 9 (N 453) were found at Bealey on the Midland Line, and in 2003 the locomotive's frames were retrieved, followed by the tender tank, underframe, and bogie frames in 2005.

The WMR Trust ultimately seek to restore N^O 9 to working order, and operate this locomotive on the main line. This locomotive will be paired with a replica of a WMR goods wagon to act as a support wagon on the main line.

• List of New Zealand railway museums and heritage lines
• Locomotives of New Zealand
• Railway enthusiast