The Kinleith Branch railway line is located in the

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, t ...

region of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. The line was constructed by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company, Taupo Totara Timber Company and rebuilt by the Public Works Department primarily to serve the Kinleith Mill in 1952. It is in length.

History

The New Zealand Government Railways line to Thames was opened to Morrinsville on 1 October 1884. Taking advantage of enabling legislation, the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company originally built the line from Morrinsville as part of its planned route to

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompa ...

as far as Lichfield. The Morrinsville-Oxford section opened without any ceremony on 8 March 1886. NZGR took over the company on 8 March 1886, instead building the Rotorua Branch railway line from

Putāruru Putāruru is a small town in the South Waikato District and the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It lies on the western side of the Mamaku Ranges and in the upper basin of the Waihou River. It is on the Oraka Stream 65 kilometre ...

. The section between Putāruru and Lichfield was closed by NZGR in 1897 as it served no purpose. The Taupo Totara Timber Company (TTT Company) then used the disused railway formation from Putāruru for its lightly constructed bush tramway line to Mokai, near

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's no ...

. Following the exhaustion of native timber in the region, the TTT Company line closed on 26 October 1944. The government saw that the line had greater potential and in September 1946 acquired the section between Putāruru and Kinleith. This line formed part of a proposed railway line to Taupō. The section of line reopened on 9 June 1947 under the control of the Public Works Department, using geared steam locomotives purchased from the TTT Co. The Public Works Department eventually rebuilt the line with heavier rail, some of it brought from

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dis ...

after opening of the Turakina deviation, wider curves and slighter grades, reaching

Tokoroa Tokoroa ( mi, Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere) is the fifth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua, close to the foot of the ...

in 1949 and Kinleith in 1952.

Bridges

There were 14 bridges on the original Morrinsville to Oxford section. No 1 bridge, over the Piako River at Morrinsville, was realigned from the original plans to be a 7-span, skew bridge, above river, made of

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

and totara.

Services

From 1913 the Morrinsville to Putāruru service was operated by a motor train. Since the withdrawal of the Geyserland Express to Rotorua in 2001, all services on the line are freight trains. The line from Putāruru - Kinleith Mill has only seen regular freight trains since being rebuilt in 1952. Occasional excursion passenger trains have operated, some being hauled by preserved steam locomotives. The branch sees eight trains in and out of Kinleith each weekday, two on Saturdays and four on Sundays. Tokoroa Road Rail Terminal opened in 2015 and handled an average of about 11 containers a day in its first 6 months.

References

Bibliography

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External links

1886 Lichfield-Auckland timetable

Ministry of Works progress report 1950
(page 15)
Morrinsville Museum photos of station and bridges
{{NZR Lines Railway lines in New Zealand Rail transport in Waikato 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in New Zealand Railway lines opened in 1952