After 1988 the line continued to be used by freight trains and excursions, but beyond Wairoa, the section to Gisborne was closed by slips in 2012 and mothballed. The Napier-Wairoa section reopened in 2019 following a $6.2 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund, though log trains were soon suspended, due to COVID-19, until November 2020.[1] The line was again closed when Cyclone Gabrielle damaged more than 400 sites in February 2023.[2] A decision has not yet (2025) been made on whether to restore or mothball it. The line north of the 191km post is designated a construction site, requiring permission for access.[3] Kiwirail is protecting the line so that it can be reopened.[4] Almost 7km (4.3mi) of track had been removed by 2024,[5] between Mangakopikopiko bridge 219, near the 199 km post, and between SH2 bridge 218A and the 192 km post.[6][7][8]
Bridge 219 in 2023
Eskdale railway station
Eskdale station had a shelter shed, platform, 30 feet (9.1m) x 40 feet (12m) goods shed, loading bank, latrines, cattle and sheep yards and a passing loop for 53 wagons. Railway houses were built in 1929, 1933, 1936 and 1956.[9] One of the 4 railway houses was destroyed in the 1931 earthquake.[10] In 1936 one was renovated and painted, electric light installed and one was moved from Bay View to Eskdale.[11] In 1967 a temporary siding stored workshop wagons.[9]
History
1922-1931
Sir Joseph Ward turned the first sod of the 12 miles (19km) Nelson-Eskdale Section on 29 January 1912,[12] but in October 1912 the new Massey government stopped construction, pending a decision on a bridge or bank across the harbour,[13] which didn't restart until 13 March 1916,[14] though the rest of the section had been formed by the end of 1912.[15]Platelayers' cottages were built in 1921.[16] Platform and loading-banks were finished at Eskdale in 1922.[17] The Government considered stopping work on the Esk bridge in July 1922,[18] but the Prime Minister, Bill Massey, formally opened the Napier to Eskdale line on 15 November 1922[19] and some goods traffic was carried from mid December 1922,[20] though the first Napier-Eskdale passenger train didn't run until 20 July 1923,[21] when it was hauled by a WA class engine.[22] The Eskdale Section was transferred from PWD to NZR in 1924.[23] A Sunday train was added in 1925,[24] but replaced by a railway bus from February 1930,[25] as it was thought cheaper than running trains.[26] From 1926 PWD ran trains connecting Waipunga with the Napier-Eskdale trains.[27]
1931-1988
After the 3 February 1931 earthquake, repairs started[28] in March[29] and by June 1931 gangs were working on the line from Napier to Bay View, at Eskdale and at Waikoau,[30] but were stopped in October 1931,[31] a decision confirmed by an unfavourable Railways Board report.[32] In December 1935 the Minister of Public Works, Bob Semple, announced that the new Labour government would complete the line.[33] Work began on 27 April[34] and on 2 July 1936 the Napier–Eskdale Section reopened for goods traffic, worked by PWD. The line was taken over by NZR on Monday 23 August 1937,[9] when passenger services resumed.[35] The first railcar ran from Napier to Wairoa and back on 30 June 1937,[36] but a regular service didn't start until 3 July 1939.[37]
In the April 1938 flood the station was covered in 1.6m (5ft 3in) of silt[38] and trucks in the yard were derailed.[39] Slips and banks were repaired beyond Eskdale, including the movement of 73,220 cubic yards of earth and rebuilding the telephone-line with new poles and closer spacing on a better alignment.[11] The line reopened in December 1938.[40] In 1960 the station building was moved to Napier as an amenities building for the Way & Works Depot. In 1969 the daily Gisborne-Wellington railcar took 21 minutes from Napier to Eskdale and 50 minutes from Putorino.[41] In 1949 a railcar was scheduled to take 19 minutes for the 19.09km (11.86mi) to Napier.[42] On 31 January 1982 Eskdale closed to all but wagon lots and passengers and from 30 March 1985 it was only open for passengers.[9] By 2019 only a passing loop, shelter and platform remained.[43] The station shelter was left at an angle and track was undermined, or covered in silt during Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023,[2] but the shelter was back in position by April 2024.[44]
Mangakopikopiko bridge
Mangakopikopiko bridge No.219 is just north of kilometre post 199, about 1.7km (1.1mi) north of the station.[45] It was a 90ft (27m) long bridge, completed in 1923.[46] It had 3 equal[47]rolled steel joist spans and a 60 feet (18m) steel plate girder span, on reinforced concrete piers and piles. Floods in March 1924 washed away much of the plant,[48] 2 piers and the south abutment. A temporary bridge was built.[49] In 1937 the sliding holes were lengthened and new bolts put in to replace those sheared off by the 1931 earthquake.[11]
North of the bridge, the line climbs at 1 in 60 for half a mile, before dropping at 1 in 110 to the Esk bridge.[48]
Esk River bridge
Esk River bridge being built in 1924
Esk River bridge No.222 is just over 3km (1.9mi) north of Mangakopikopiko bridge.[45] It is 360ft (110m) long and 31ft (9.4m) above the Esk River,[50] on concrete piers and was completed in 1924,[51][52] when the 9ft (2.7m) x 40 feet (12m) steel plate girders were riveted.[49][53][47] The bridge site was originally known as Wallace's Crossing.[48]
From the bridge the line climbs the Esk valley to Waikoau summit at 1 in 60[48][54] (or 1 in 50).[55]
During construction in 1923, 3mi 42ch (5.7km) north of Eskdale, a construction site was set up with a field office, store, carpenter's shop, fitting-shop and 2 platelayers' cottages. It used 4 steam-shovels in 1923.[56] A temporary school, with 15 pupils,[57] was set up in 1922.[58] It was moved to Kaiwaka in 1924.[59]
The 1931 earthquake broke every bridge pier.[60] In 1937 Esk Bridge was repaired, pier C being entirely rebuilt, using 8 new 14in (360mm) octagonal reinforced-concrete piles 22ft (6.7m) long, with a heavily reinforced pier on top. The other piers were repaired and strengthened by 2 x 6in (150mm) x 3in (76mm) channels bolted to each face, bedded in and covered with concrete. All girder-seats were relevelled and reseated, and all sliding ends reslotted and made free to move. The rails were lifted and straightened.[11]
Parts of the bridge were swept away in the April 1938 floods[61] and other spans badly damaged.[62] A temporary bridge was in use in 1939.[63] In 2023 the bridge was covered in debris during the Cyclone Gabrielle floods[64] and about 7km (4.3mi) of line washed away, or covered in silt.[65]
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