56-425: The Kapuni Branch , formerly known as the Opunake Branch , is a branch railway in North Island , New Zealand. It opened in 1926, and ran 36.4 km across the southern slopes of Mount Taranaki to link the rural town of Ōpunake with the Marton–New Plymouth Line 2 km north of the small rural settlement of Te Roti, equidistant between Eltham and Hāwera . With the decline of rural freight, part of
112-547: A certain industrial site such as a power station either because of a location away from the main line or to reduce congestion. They were typically built to lower standards, using lighter rail and shallow roadbeds when compared to main lines. Much of Canada's branch line history relates to large rail transport conglomerates (such as the Grand Trunk , Canadian National , or Canadian Pacific ) which would acquire formerly independent short line railways for use as branch lines, with
168-411: A larger yard, where these railcars are sorted and dispatched in larger trains with other cars destined to similar locations. Because industrial spurs generally have less capacity and traffic than a mainline, they tend to have lower maintenance and signaling (train control) standards. Before the rise of the long-distance trucking in the early 1930s, railroads were the primary means of transportation around
224-457: A platform, cart approach, loading bank, stockyards, an engine shed, 55 foot turntable (built at Addington Workshops about February 1926 and still in use in 1966) and sidings able to hold 60, 30, 26, 23 and 18 wagons, reduced to 55, 31 and 17 by 1959. The junction with the Marton - New Plymouth railway line faced south towards Hāwera with trains operating from that station. The station of Te Roti
280-786: A section of the West Rail line . Discontinued services include the Sha Tau Kok Railway and the Wo Hop Shek Branch . A spur line to Siu Sai Wan has been proposed. Delhi On the Delhi Metro , the Blue Line has a Branch Line with 8 Stations, linking Yamuna Bank to Ghaziabad via Anand Vihar ISBT and terminating at Vaishali. The first section of the Branch opened on 8 January 2010 with Anand Vihar as its terminal with six stations. It
336-484: A single track, the journey is 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometres) long and the train takes around two and a half minutes to complete its journey. In North America, little-used branch lines are often sold by large railroads to become new common carrier short-line railroads of their own. Throughout the United States and Canada, branch lines link smaller towns too distant from the main line to be served efficiently, or to serve
392-523: A subsidy for grain transport, and instead allowed railways to absorb branch line subsidies freely without making effort to improve the profitability of the lines. The term "grain-dependent branch lines" began being used as early as 1978 to refer to the special case of these branch lines in agricultural areas whose viability depended on the economics of grain transport. The Western Grain Transportation Act of 1983 addressed this case specifically, but
448-556: Is a type of secondary track used by railroads to allow customers at a location to load and unload railcars without interfering with other railroad operations. Industrial spurs can vary greatly in length and railcar capacity depending on the requirements of the customer the spur is serving. In heavily industrialized areas, it is not uncommon for one industrial spur to have multiple sidings to several different customers. Typically, spurs are serviced by local trains responsible for collecting small numbers of railcars and delivering them to
504-529: The Bay of Plenty Region , lines were built inland to provide rail access to large logging operations. Today, many of the branch lines have been closed, including almost all of the general-purpose country lines. Those that remain serve ports or industries far from main lines such as coal mines, logging operations, large dairying factories, and steelworks . In Auckland and Wellington , two branch lines in each city exist solely for commuter passenger trains. For more, see
560-621: The DL class locomotives being taken out of service after samples from one locomotive tested positive for asbestos . Withdrawals began again in May of that year when 1282 was laid up. The rest have been withdrawn, with 1226 being the last. In June 2017, KiwiRail issued a Request for Quotation (RFQ) via the Government Electronic Tendering Service (GETS). In August 2017, it was announced that DBRs 1254 and 1295 have been purchased by
616-717: The Gladstone Branch in New Jersey; as well as the New Canaan Branch , Danbury Branch , and Waterbury Branch in Connecticut . The Long Island Rail Road also refers to its services as "branches". In Chile, there are a lot of branch lines on its main line, of only a few remain operational. Most only operating in turistic services (like the Antilhue-Valdivia branch line), others have been taken over by other railways (like
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#1732884098692672-572: The Glenbrook Vintage Railway . The remaining DBRs were originally sold to a locomotive/rolling stock dealer in South Africa , but have now been sold to DBM Contracting. Preserved by DBM Contracting: Preserved by Glenbrook Vintage Railway : In August 2017, it was announced by the Glenbrook Vintage Railway that they had purchased DBRs 1254 and 1295 for eventually hauling mainline excursions. After being stored at Hutt Workshops ,
728-761: The North South Line between Jurong East and Choa Chu Kang stations was operated as a separate line, known as the Branch line . It was merged into the North–South Line with the opening of the Woodlands Extension in 1996. The future Jurong Region Line and Cross Island Line will also have branch lines. New Zealand once had a very extensive network of branch lines, especially in the South Island regions of Canterbury , Otago , and Southland . Many were built in
784-592: The Pisa-Rome railway mainline at Roma San Pietro railway station , to Vatican City station . Many British railway branch lines were closed as a result of the " Beeching cuts " in the 1960s, although some have been re-opened as heritage railways . The smallest branch line that is still in operation in the UK is the Stourbridge Town Branch Line from Stourbridge Junction going to Stourbridge Town . Operating on
840-672: The South Tseung Kwan O Spur Line to LOHAS Park station , opened in 2009. Earlier, a spur line was built in 1985 on the East Rail line to serve Racecourse station , bypassing Fo Tan station . Also, the Tsim Sha Tsui Extension [ yue ] was built in 2004 on the East Rail line to serve East Tsim Sha Tsui station . However, after the Kowloon Southern Link was completed in 2009, this spur line turns into
896-464: The list of New Zealand railway lines . New Zealand DB class locomotive The New Zealand DB class and DBR class locomotive is a type of diesel-electric locomotive built for service on New Zealand's rail network . They were built by General Motors Diesel (GMD) of Canada as a narrow-gauge version of the EMD G8 model, with seventeen locomotives constructed. Ten of these were later rebuilt into
952-425: The 1940s with several dairy companies preferring to truck produce directly to New Plymouth. Regular passenger numbers were never high - the first official train service started with only 3 people. As early as 1930 there were recommendations to remove passenger accommodation to save costs. Passenger services endured on the branch until 16 October 1955 when services became freight-only. Excursion trains were popular in
1008-515: The 1970s traffic to Ōpunake was becoming negligible due to competition from road transport. However, the section as far as Kapuni was much better patronized, chiefly due to the New Zealand Lactose factory at Kapuni and the natural gas and urea plant at Palmer Road. For this reason, in April 1976 it was decided to close the line beyond Kapuni (effective 31 July 1976). At the same time the rest of
1064-586: The D class along similar lines to that being undertaken for the D class into the DC class . The rebuilt D units were designated as DBR (R = rebuild). The rebuilds were done by Clyde Engineering in Australia and involved the lowering of the short hood to improve visibility for the driver, new cabs similar to the DC class, and the installation of a new EMD 8-645 engine. Ten units were rebuilt between 1980 and 1982. The D class
1120-414: The D class entered service. The class was initially numbered D 1000 to D 1016, this being in common with NZR practice of the time to number locomotive classes with reference to the power output. Upon the introduction of the computerised Traffic Monitoring System (TMS) in 1979 the class was renumbered and the designation capitalised. The class received new four-digit numbers beginning with 1, in which
1176-590: The DBR class. The D class was introduced to the rail network in 1965-1966 as a result of a requirement for a modern locomotive that could operate on the North Island lines that the D class was excluded from due to their weight and axle load. They were ordered at the same time as the final D order was placed. While these were mainly branch lines, it also applied to the East Coast Main Trunk line, particularly
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#17328840986921232-655: The North Island. The lightweight nature of the DBR locomotives meant they were well suited to operate some South Island lines following the withdrawal of the DI and DJ class locomotives in the early 1990s. The last DBR returned north from the South Island around 2007. From 2003 to 2014 two locomotives were leased to the Auckland Regional Transport Authority and then its successor, Auckland Transport, with
1288-555: The Opunake Branch. All stations closed to passenger traffic on 31 Oct 1955. The railway station building in Opunake was a Class A lean-to building, complete with general and ladies waiting rooms and space for a station office. It and a 60 ft (18 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed and a lamp and footwarmer shed were built by J W Boon, of Stratford, by July 1925. He also built 3 railway houses in 1925/26. By 1926 there were also
1344-637: The Railways Department took over the line. A construction train was derailed by a cow in March 1925 and the guard was killed and 3 other workers injured. The railway was officially opened by the Prime Minister, Robert Coates, on 27 October 1925. A 9 km spur from Kapuni to Manaia was built in 1920–24, but track was only laid as far as a ballast pit on the Kaupokonui River, and the section as far as
1400-666: The San Rosendo-Talcahuano branch line, which has been taken over by Biotrén and the Laja-Talcahuano train service) however, there is one branch line that still remains as fully operative. The Talca-Constitución branch line, which uses trains with bus motors. Two extensions to the MTR rapid transit network were built as branches of existing lines: the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line to Lok Ma Chau station , which opened in 2007; and
1456-539: The Taranaki Pioneer Village in Stratford. Photos - Branch railway A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line . A very short branch line may be called a spur line . Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located on a main line. Branch lines may also connect two or more main lines. An industrial spur
1512-543: The U.S. state of New Jersey . The line is a short branch of the Northeast Corridor Line , running from Princeton Junction northwest to Princeton with no intermediate stops. Also known as the "Dinky Line", at 2.9 mi (4.7 km) it is the shortest scheduled commuter rail line in the United States. The run takes 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Other than the Princeton Line, other surviving branch lines include
1568-469: The ballast pit was closed and the track lifted by 1926. When the branch was opened to Ōpunake in 1926 services consisted of one return service three days a week, running on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Services were run as mixed services , with passenger accommodation included attached to the end of the freight train. Services departed Hāwera at 9:30am, reaching Ōpunake 90 minutes later. Return services departed at 11:45am reaching Hāwera at 1:42pm. There
1624-584: The branch was upgraded and renamed the Kapuni Branch. The lifting of the railway beyond Kapuni was initially subject to a union ban, and track and buildings remained in place until the early 1980s (similar to what happened with the closure of the Waiau Branch in Canterbury around the same time). Today the former 25 kilometres (16 mi) section from Kapuni to Ōpunake has "plenty of railway remnants to satisfy
1680-581: The early 2000s, DBRs 1199, 1239 and 1241 were withdrawn and placed into storage at Hutt Workshops . DBR1199 was reinstated a year later for suburban trains in Auckland , and 1239 and 1241 were scrapped at Hutt Workshops in February 2008. More withdrawals commenced in July 2013 , with 1200 being the first. A few more were laid-up over the next few months. In February 2014 , 1267, 1282 and 1295 were reinstated due to
1736-508: The enthusiast." Much of the former roadbed is still traceable with embankments and cuttings often repurposed as farm tracks. For many years there remained a goods shed and loading bay at Pihama and a locomotive shed, gateposts, a platform and goods loading bank at Ōpunake. Most of these have since been removed, but concrete gateposts remain at several road crossings to this day and the former Ōpunake station site remains clearly visible. The former Ōpunake station building has since been relocated to
Kapuni Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
1792-552: The first president of the Canadian National Railway , said that although most branch lines cannot pay for themselves, they are even essential to make main lines pay. In the United States, abandonment of unproductive branch lines was a byproduct of deregulation of the rail industry through the Staggers Act . The Princeton Branch is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit (NJT) in
1848-416: The greater flexibility and economic savings of trucking. Today, railroads remain the most economical way to ship large quantities of material, a fact that is reflected in industrial spurs. Most modern day spurs serve very large industries that require hundreds, if not thousands, of carloads a year. There is an international branch line between Italy and Vatican: the 300-metre Vatican Railway , connecting from
1904-577: The initial pair, becoming known as the "Bobsy Twins" (sp), likely a reference to the Bobbsey Twins due mainly to their consecutive numbers (a rarity under the TMS numbering system ). In the early 2000s DBR1199 suffered a failure and was withdrawn from service and laid up, replaced on the banker set by DBR1267. DBR1199 was later sent to Hillside for repair and use on the Auckland SX set commuter trains, by which time
1960-404: The last number is a check digit for the whole number. Under the new system, D 1001 retained its number, becoming DB1001, with D 1000 becoming DB1018. The rest of the class was renumbered in sequence, with D 1016 becoming DB1180. The units being rebuilt to DBR received a new TMS number in the 12XX range when they entered the rebuilding cycle. In the late 1970s the decision was made to rebuild
2016-419: The late 1920s and early 1930s with trains from Whanganui, New Plymouth and Waitara visiting. The first such train was a race train that ran to Pihama station on 18 March 1925 - over a year before the branch was officially completed. An excursion from New Plymouth in 1967 took about 2½ hours each way. The first official train to Opunake was hauled by a W class tank engine . Later A class tender engines became
2072-479: The late 19th century to open up inland regions for farming and other economic activities. The branches in the South Island regions were often general-purpose lines that carried predominantly agricultural traffic, but lines elsewhere were often built to serve a specific resource: on the West Coast , an extensive network of branch lines was built in rugged terrain to serve coal mines, while in the central North Island and
2128-482: The line was closed in 1976, but the 10.9 km section to Kapuni was retained and upgraded to service traffic to the Kapuni natural gas field. When the plains of South Taranaki were being laid out, provision had been made for a railway line between Eltham and Ōpunake and a railway reserve set aside in an almost straight line between these centres. However, initial route surveys conducted in 1908 concluded that this reserve
2184-586: The long hoods. This livery was worn by many of the original DBs until their retirement, while the DBRs were returned to service in the International Orange or "Fruit Salad" scheme (red and grey with yellow safety ends) being applied to most NZR locomotive classes at the time. DBs 1082 and 1099 also received this livery in the 1980s. DBR 1295 was repainted into the Toll Rail "Corn Cob" scheme (yellow and green), and
2240-513: The necessary modifications to work with the suburban carriages. The leases expired in 2014 and the locomotives returned to freight service. For many years two DBR class locomotives formed the basis of a banker set out of Wellington, primarily assisting trains between Wellington and Paekakariki but also performing multiple other jobs including the Hutt Workshops shunt, work trains around the region and any unusual movements. DBRs 1199 and 1200 were
2296-507: The pairing of DBRs 1200 and 1267 had become known simply as "The Twins". DBR1267 was later transferred to Auckland to replace DBR1282, with the Wellington banking role taken over by other locomotives. The locomotives were delivered in the same overall deep red livery as the D class, with the same white stripes along the sides and "wings" on the ends. With the introduction of TMS the locomotives road numbers were applied in large white numbers to
Kapuni Branch - Misplaced Pages Continue
2352-431: The peak 200 men were employed on line works, including a large 1.6 km cutting near Waiteika. The Waingongoro Bridge near Te Roiti, an unusual (for New Zealand) brick arch bridge, was completed in 1921, and the second bridge in 1923. The Public Works Department began running goods trains to Kapuni from 1 August 1923, and to Mangawhero Road by December 1924. The Ōpunake terminal was reached on 8 June 1925. On 12 July 1926
2408-539: The railway. The branch line came about as a result of an election promise at the 1911 New Zealand general election . A branch line of "about 23 miles" to Ōpunake was authorised in 1912 for £400,000 by the Railways Authorization Act 1912, with work commencing in 1914. Earthworks reached Kapuni by 1916, but progress was slowed by World War I. Work was suspended in December 1917, and recommenced in March 1919. At
2464-556: The railways had owned. However, by the mid-20th century, railways began neglecting lines in western agricultural regions. This was historically driven by factors such as the Crow Rate , which regulated the price railways could charge for shipping grain. Railways had little incentive to invest in rural Prairie branch lines, but were legally unable to abandon them under the National Transportation Act , which also did not provide
2520-762: The section beyond Paeroa through the Karangahake and Athenree gorges until the opening of the Kaimai Tunnel in 1978. The class was virtually indistinguishable externally from the D class, being of the same basic design and dimensions, and wearing the same livery. They were some 13 tonnes lighter with a V8 prime mover as opposed to a V12 in the D class, though the classes shared the same A1A-A1A wheel configuration and traction motors for commonality. The locomotives were supplied with cast-steel bogies manufactured by Dofasco , but these were swapped with phase I D class locomotives, which were delivered with fabricated bogies, once
2576-526: The services operated under contract by Transdev . The two locomotives, DBRs 1199 and 1254 are operated in a top and tail configuration with the five car SX carriages set and wore the full MAXX Blue livery. A third unit, DBR 1226, was also painted in MAXX Blue but without the MAXX logo. DBR 1226 was usually used for freight services or work trains by KiwiRail but was used as back up for DBR 1199 or DBR 1254 as it had
2632-804: The short line often continuing to exist as a subsidiary. For example, when the Canadian Pacific acquired the Algoma Eastern Railway (a short line) in 1930, it soon after abandoned much of the Algoma Eastern mainline, but retained sections close to Algoma Eastern–Canadian Pacific junctions as short branch lines or spurs. The National Transportation Act of 1967 provided government subsidies for branch lines. Western railway development in Canada worked in concert with land settlement and cultivation, as pioneers were settled near railway lines, often on land
2688-518: The three units used on Auckland services have received the MAXX Blue livery (deep blue and yellow). More recently DBR 1267 has received the KiwiRail grey, red and yellow scheme. As of May 2017 , all units have been withdrawn from service. The locomotives were withdrawn on account of being either surplus to requirements, or in poor mechanical condition. All of the DB locomotives were withdrawn by February 1989 . In
2744-459: The usual motive power until the end of steam power in Taranaki in late 1966. From December 1966, D class diesel locomotives became the primary motive power used (introduced a few weeks after the nearby Waitara Branch railway ). By the 1980s they had in turn been replaced with DC class diesel locomotives running as far as Kapuni, the new end of the line. The following stations were located on
2800-467: The world. Industries of the era were commonly built along railroad lines specifically to allow for easy access to shipping. Short (under a mile, oftentimes only several hundred yards) industrial spurs with very small (under ten car) capacities were a common sight along railroads in industrial and rural cities alike. As automobile and roadway technology improved throughout the early and mid-20th century, most low volume industry spurs were abandoned in favor of
2856-529: Was employed primarily freight duties, though they did also see occasional service hauling passenger trains. As lines and bridges were upgraded, and in the case of the ECMT the Kaimai Tunnel opening, the weight advantage the locomotives had over other classes used in the North Island became less of a factor and the locomotives were operated as part of a general pool. Initially, all DBR class locomotives were allocated to
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#17328840986922912-496: Was further extended to Vaishali in 2011. The line is planned to be extended from Vaishali to Mohan Nagar via Sahibabad Station to link with the main line. The East West Line of the MRT system in Singapore has a two-station branch to Changi Airport . The first station, Expo , opened in 2001. It was extended to Changi Airport station the next year. From 1990 to 1996, the section of
2968-482: Was no stationmaster assigned to Ōpunake station initially, despite the large station building provided. From 13 March 1931 there was a caretaker and from 22 June 1942 a stationmaster. By 1930 goods traffic had increased and an extra service was scheduled for Thursdays as well. As well as general freight and livestock, a number of smaller dairy factories along the line provided good traffic at this time. Road competition for freight from these dairy companies ramped up from
3024-476: Was rebuilt as an island station and the branch ran parallel to the mainline for around half a mile north of the station, before swinging hard left to cross the Waingongoro river bridge. On 14 May 1961 the junction was realigned with points facing toward Eltham and services operated from Stratford instead. The Hāwera locomotive depot was closed around the same time, and Te Roti station itself closed in 1967. From
3080-488: Was repealed in 1994 in the wake of the North American Free Trade Agreement and budget-balancing initiatives in favour of a one-time payout by the federal government directly to farmers, to arrange transport of grain themselves. From the mid-1970s to the late 2010s, more than 9,300 kilometres (5,800 mi) of Prairie branch lines were abandoned or had a discontinuance of service. David Blyth Hanna ,
3136-414: Was “a little too far to the north to serve the country generally in the most efficient manner” and new surveys were conducted to find a more suitable route across the plains. The four routes surveyed were: The route from Te Roti was ultimately chosen as being the most direct and least expensive option. It also took a more central route over the plains, creating a shorter journey for coastal farms to access
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