NZR Workshops: Difference between revisions
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== INTRODUCTION == | |||
Every railway has equipment it uses to carry out its operations, and this involves steel wheels rolling on steel rails, and all this equipment requires regular maintenance if it is to stay operational. Those who were involved with setting up the beginnings of the NZR network, understood the need for workshops and had already ordered the machinery required for two railway workshops in 1871 more than a year before any 3'-6" gauge railway was operational. These first two workshops were based in Auckland and Dunedin as they were the focal points of the narrow gauge operations in New Zealand at the time However, once gauge conversion was complete in Christchurch in 1877, and given the Locomotive Supervisor was based in Christchurch the provision of a full workshop like Dunedin had, became a priority, but construction work did not start till 1879. With the completion of what is now known as the Main South Line from Lyttelton to Bluff, it became logical to also provide some workshop facilities at Invercargill given its comparatively central location to what became a large network of tracks in the south of the South Island. The north and west of the South Island saw railways established at Picton, Nelson, Westport and Greymouth. Each of these operated as isolated sections so had some workshop facilities as a necessity, with Nelson never enjoying the benefits of being linked to the rest of New Zealand | |||
The development of railways in the North Island | The development of railways in the North Island was somewhat slower due to both the distrust of the Maori through whose land the railway had to pass, and the difficulty of the terrain. Until the link between Auckland and Wellington was completed in 1907, rail operations in the South were between four main centres of population; Wellington, Napier, Wanganui and New Plymouth. As each of these started as isolated sections, they each needed to be provided with a minimum level of workshop facilities, with Wellington and Wanganui significantly out-growing the others. In the north, a similar pattern developed with several isolated section being progressively linked. Here however, workshops were only established at Auckland and Whangarei, with Auckland always being the primary workshop for the region. | ||
Revision as of 10:06, 26 June 2024
INTRODUCTION
Every railway has equipment it uses to carry out its operations, and this involves steel wheels rolling on steel rails, and all this equipment requires regular maintenance if it is to stay operational. Those who were involved with setting up the beginnings of the NZR network, understood the need for workshops and had already ordered the machinery required for two railway workshops in 1871 more than a year before any 3'-6" gauge railway was operational. These first two workshops were based in Auckland and Dunedin as they were the focal points of the narrow gauge operations in New Zealand at the time However, once gauge conversion was complete in Christchurch in 1877, and given the Locomotive Supervisor was based in Christchurch the provision of a full workshop like Dunedin had, became a priority, but construction work did not start till 1879. With the completion of what is now known as the Main South Line from Lyttelton to Bluff, it became logical to also provide some workshop facilities at Invercargill given its comparatively central location to what became a large network of tracks in the south of the South Island. The north and west of the South Island saw railways established at Picton, Nelson, Westport and Greymouth. Each of these operated as isolated sections so had some workshop facilities as a necessity, with Nelson never enjoying the benefits of being linked to the rest of New Zealand
The development of railways in the North Island was somewhat slower due to both the distrust of the Maori through whose land the railway had to pass, and the difficulty of the terrain. Until the link between Auckland and Wellington was completed in 1907, rail operations in the South were between four main centres of population; Wellington, Napier, Wanganui and New Plymouth. As each of these started as isolated sections, they each needed to be provided with a minimum level of workshop facilities, with Wellington and Wanganui significantly out-growing the others. In the north, a similar pattern developed with several isolated section being progressively linked. Here however, workshops were only established at Auckland and Whangarei, with Auckland always being the primary workshop for the region.