The Nelson Section was an isolated government-owned railway line between Nelson and Glenhope in the Tasman district of New Zealand's South Island. While part of the New Zealand Government Railways, the section was never connected to the national railway network, although there were plans to do so. The line operated for years between 1876 and 1955. Unusually for an isolated line, there were passenger and freight services for most of its existence, with freight outlasting passenger services by just a year.
This line is noteworthy for several reasons, including being the last completely isolated section of the government-owned railway network; gaining a reprieve after being closed for the first time until being closed for a second – and final – time; and, its route was chosen to serve existing communities in Nelson's hinterland rather than being constructed to open up new areas for development or serve specific industries.
History
Nelson was founded as a New Zealand Company settlement in 1842, and became the capital of the Nelson Province following the creation of the provinces of New Zealand in 1853. Initially, provincial councils were responsible for building railways, and the first in Nelson was the privately funded and constructed railway of the Dun Mountain Company, opening in 1862. The first steam-operated railway opened between Christchurch and Ferrymead in 1863.
Background
It was the early success of the Dun Mountain Company that first prompted suggestions of a railway to link Nelson with the West Coast town of Cobden. In May 1862, Fedor Kelling, the Nelson Provincial Council member for Waimea West, requested a feasibility study for a line from Nelson to the Wairoa River bridge. When the council agreed, Abraham Fitzgibbon – previously associated with the Dun Mountain Railway – was appointed to do the work. He chose a route that had the line leaving Nelson via Jenkins Hill (modern-day Bishopdale), and also planned a branch line to the end of Parkers Road where he envisaged a branch line terminating at a port. Though the select committee examining the idea was left in no doubt as to the economic benefits of such a railway, they were equally cognizant of the debt that would be required to fund it.
It was only later that, on reports of a gold rush on the west coast, the matter was considered again by the council, enthusiastically supported by Fedor Kelling. The committee decided on a line to Cobden, with a branch line to Westport, along the Buller River. Financing for the project was to come in part from a land grant scheme, whereby of land would be granted for every of progress on the line. Later that year, the General Assembly passed the Nelson, Cobden and Westport Railway Land Act, authorising the reservation of the necessary land.
It was decided to engage the services of an expert to examine the matter. For this task, Henry Wrigg, an Auckland civil engineer, was hired to survey the route. He completed the work between September 1867 and January 1868 in appalling weather, which did give him the advantage of seeing the area at its worst. When he presented his report to the council the following 1 April, he enthusiastically supported the project and was confident that construction should take only three years with work starting simultaneously at Nelson, Cobden and Westport.
Though the financial requirements of such a project were beyond the means of both the provincial and central governments at the time, it was suggested that a British firm be engaged to finance, construct and own the line as had already been successfully done in other developing nations. As a further incentive, Wrigg suggested that the Brunner coal mine be given to the successful tenderer as an immediate and certain source of income.
When the authorisation legislation was submitted to the General Assembly, it did not include a provision for the gifting of the coal mine, which the provincial council was reluctant to relinquish, nor was Wrigg included in the deputation that was sent to England to solicit interest in the project.
John Morrison, a London-based businessman, was appointed by the council to act as their agent in accordance with the authorising Act. Assisted by former colonial governor Sir George Grey and engineer Fitzgibbon, he set about trying to find financiers to fund the project. Though he met with much early disappointment and scepticism, he eventually found such a group headed by Alexander Brogden. Morrison wrote of the good news to Superintendent Oswald Curtis who was able to put the letter before the council two months later.