THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL

The Rail Trail is a recreational facility that was once a railway. Open to cyclists, walkers and horse riders, it has been redeveloped as a public reserve under the management of Department of Conservation (DOC) and a trust set up to promote its use.

The Rail Trail can be used all-year-round and enables you to experience the beauty and solitude of this back country that was opened up to development just a little over 100 years ago. The route chosen for the former rail way was the most difficult and expensive of seven proposed in 1877. This engineering feat can now be experienced by those who catch the Taieri Gorge Railway from Dunedin to Pukerangi or Middlemarch through the spectacular Taieri Gorge, and by cyclists, walkers and horse riders who travel the 151 km old rail corridor, the Otago Central Rail Trail, between Middlemarch and Clyde. You will experience magnificent viaducts and the intricate stonework in bridges and tunnels. These demonstrate not only the extraordinary skills of engineers and stonemasons but the tenacity of the many labourers who often worked in conditions of great hardship, especially in winter.

The Rail Trail connects four Central Otago plains and valleys: the Strath Taieri with the township of Middlemarch, the Maniototo with Ranfurly at the centre, Ida Valley with Oturehua and the Manuherikia area with Alexandra and Clyde. Other townships are dotted along the Trail and accommodation is available in all of these.

DISTANCES BETWEEN TOWNS

asl = above sea level

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE OTAGO CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL
» How the Rail Trail began told by someone who was there.
» An overview of the Rail Trail.
» A description of the first Great NZ Rail Trail Challenge by David Wall – NZ Adventure 1997.
» Visit the Rail Trail Duathlon website.
» Some stunning photos of the Strath Taieri and Maniototo with a brief history and interesting environmental information.

ELEVATION

This elevation chart will tell you the distances between all locations along the Rail Trail as well as give you an idea of the level of effort needed when you plan where to begin the Trail.

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THE CENTRAL OTAGO RAILWAY

The 235 km railway branched from the South Island Main Trunk at Wingatui (12 km south of Dunedin) and was begun in 1879. The depression of the 1880s stalled work but the line finally reached Middlemarch in 1891. A number of stone masons, who had worked on the many viaducts and tunnels on the way, settled in Middlemarch. Their work can be witnessed in local buildings, for example the Presbyterian Church.

Until the railway reached Middlemarch, all work had been carried out under a contract system. This had resulted in a sub-contracting system, where the sub-contractor often went bankrupt, the work left unfinished and the men not paid. In the first 12 years, only 64 km of railway had been finished, equivalent to approx 5 km per year. The Minister of Public Works, Hon R. J. Seddon introduced a new co-operative employment system which progressed the work and offered the men better pay. The railway reached Ranfurly in 1898, Omakau in 1904, Alexandra in 1906 and Clyde in 1907. Work then stopped until 1914. In 1921 it finally reached Cromwell.

The railway was of immense importance to the communities it traversed. From the Alexandra area fruit was carried to all major cities in new Zealand. A wagon labeled 'Auckland,' for example, would be loaded with fruit from various orchards and the fruit would travel in that same wagon all the way to Auckland. In a good year, up to 4,000 tons of fruit would leave Central Otago by rail.

For a long time rail transport was protected by various transport licensing regulations that restricted how far goods could be carried by trucks. In 1936 this was 48 km. Sheep, for example, were carried to the sale yards or freezing works in double-deck sheep wagons (look out for one at the Hyde railway station) that had to be ordered up to a week in advance. These could hold up to 80 sheep. Almost 500,000 sheep left Central Otago by rail in 1960 but by 1969 this had dropped to nearly 180,000 and in 1974 to 30,000. By 1977 the Railways finally stop carrying sheep coinciding with the relaxation of transport regulations allowing goods to be carried for up to 150 km by road and the sealing of major roads.

The railway was also important for people's social needs. In spring, a Blossom Festival excursion operated between Dunedin and Alexandra and at Easter, a day excursion train to A & P Shows in Middlemarch and Waipiata. The Otago Hunt Club held a hunt at the time of the Middlemarch Show and participants would come up by train with their horses on the Friday before Easter - just as today people bring their bikes on the train to ride the Rail Trail.

Gradually services on the railway line declined, staff amalgamated or relocated and by 1980 Cromwell station was closed, making way for the building of the Clyde Dam (the oldest part of Cromwell was to be submerged). Clyde became the terminus and the line was in its latter stages used to transport cement and steel for the construction project at Clyde to finally close in 1990.

The Dunedin City Council (DCC) did not immediately purchase the scenic stretch of railway line from Wingatui to Middlemarch from the Crown, on which now runs the Taieri Gorge Railway. Many councillors were content to sit on the 40-year term at peppercorn rental until exhortations and concern finally converted the dim to accepting to buy the line from the Crown through Land Information New Zealand at $1, thus securing the asset for the DCC as a Local Authority Trading Enterprise (LATE). Dunedin City Holdings Limited, jointly with the Otago Excursion Train Trust, also owns the Taieri Gorge Limited (TGL).

From a railway line carrying freight and passenger and servicing the settlement all the way to Cromwell for 100 years, to close and die, then be resurrected as a Tourism activity is truly a remarkable metamorphosis. This is especially so for the small declining townships along the way, bringing new life and vigour to the region.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE TAIERI GORGE RAILWAY
» Find out about the origins of today's Otago Gorge Railway.
» Read more about the history of the Otago Central Railway in Over the Garden Wall.
» Click here for an excellent map of the rail journey through the Taieri Gorge.
» Photos from the train journey with location map (note the 197 m long Wingatui viaduct).
» More about the history of the Otago Central Railway, written by long-time rail enthusiasts.

Dave & Donna Thomson · Mold St · Middlemarch · Central Otago · New Zealand
Tel: +64 3 464 3355 · Fax: +64 3 464 3322 · Email: info@railtrail.co.nz

© 2005-2009 Rail Trail Services Ltd. All Rights Reserved        Last updated 18 January 2009