Nelson Section
The Nelson Section as its name implies, remained an isolated section its whole life. With construction starting in April 1873 on the Nelson Foxhill Railway as the first easy section was promoted as, it envisaged a great future with the prospect of linking up with Greymouth and Christchurch via a promised Midland Railway. Construction progress was slow with ultimately 64 miles (just over 100km) constructed over some 50 years. When all construction ceased in 1930, a gap of only a 42 mile (67km) existed in order to connect with Inangahua, the railhead from Christchurch at the time.
The following table lists all the stations with their distances from the start (Port) in both Miles and chains, and in kilometres, It also lists the station's elevation in feet and metres, plus opening an closing dates. Each Station name forms a link to a separate page about that Station.
| Station | Mileage M.ch | Metrage km | Elevation ft | Elevation m | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port | 0.00 | 0.00 | 10 | 3 | 17/05/1880 | 3/09/1955 |
| Nelson | 1.00 | 1.60 | 10 | 3 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Bishopdale | 2.72 | 4.67 | 213 | 65 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Stoke | 5.32 | 8.67 | 74 | 23 | 26/02/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Freezing_Works | 6.72 | 11.10 | (22) | (6) | 17/06/1915 | 3/09/1955 |
| Richmond | 8.32 | 13.52 | 28 | 13 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Appleby | 9.32 | 15.13 | 51 | 16 | c.23/04/1895 | 3/09/1955 |
| Hope | 10.32 | 16.74 | 72 | 22 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Brightwater | 13.16 | 21.24 | 93 | 28 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Spring_Grove | 14.48 | 23.50 | 123 | 36 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Wakefield | 17.24 | 27.84 | 204 | 62 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Wai-iti | 20.22 | 32.19 | 328 | 100 | 31/01/1876 | 3/09/1955 |
| Foxhill | 21.16 | 34.12 | 367 | 112 | 25/07/1881 | 3/09/1955 |
| Belgrove | 22.56 | 35.63 | 438 | 134 | 25/07/1881 | 3/09/1955 |
| Motupiko | 31.72 | 51.34 | 621 | 189 | 16/02/1899 | 3/09/1955 |
| Mararewa | 35.08 | 56.49 | 529 | 161 | 22/10/1906 | 13/06/1954 |
| Tapawera | 36.64 | 59.22 | 479 | 146 | 6/08/1906 | 3/09/1955 |
| Rakau | 39.48 | 63.73 | 555 | 169 | 6/08/1906 | 3/09/1955 |
| Tadmor | 42.24 | 68.08 | 671 | 205 | 6/08/1906 | 3/09/1955 |
| Kiwi | 47.32 | 76.28 | 896 | 274 | 18/12/1908 | 3/09/1929 |
| Tui | 50.48 | 81.43 | 1064 | 325 | 2/09/1912 | 3/09/1955 |
| Kaka | 55.32 | 85.94 | 1208 | 369 | 2/09/1912 | 3/09/1955 |
| Glenhope | 60.19 | 96.64 | 1272 | 388 | 24/04/1912 | 3/09/1955 |
| Kawatiri | 64.10 | 103.20 | 1160 | 354 | 21/06/1926 | 21/06/1931 |
| Gowan_Bridge | 67.03 | 109.5 | 1050 | 320 | 13/05/1929 | 24/06/1933 |