Silver Stream Railway
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| Silver Stream Railway | |
|---|---|
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| A steam train on the Silver Stream Railway, 6 March 2002. The locomotive is C 132. | |
| Location | |
| Place | Upper Hutt, Wellington,  New Zealand |
| Terminus | |
| Commercial Operations | |
| Name | Part of the Hutt Valley Line |
| Built by | New Zealand Government Railways |
| Gauge | 1067mm |
| Preserved Operations | |
| Operated by | |
| Stations | |
| Length | |
| Gauge | |
| Commercial History | |
| Opened | December 1875 |
| Closed | 21 November 1954 |
| Preservation History | |
The Silver Stream Railway is a heritage railway at Silverstream in the Hutt Valley near Wellington, New Zealand. It regularly operates preserved New Zealand Railways Department locomotives along a restored section of the Hutt Valley Line (part of the Wairarapa Line) before a deviation was built in 1954.
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[edit] History
The beginnings of the Silver Stream Railway were in 1967 when the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society began a collection of locomotives and rolling stock. Tracklaying on the old formation of the Hutt Valley Line did not begin until 1977. The collection of locomotives and rolling stock had previously been stored at a site by the Gracefield Branch in Seaview, and this was transferred to the present Silverstream site in 1984. The official opening of the full 1.5 kilometre track took place on 15 February 1986.[1]
[edit] Locomotives
The railway owns steam, diesel, and electric locomotives, and two NZR RM class Standard railcars. Some of these are operational while others await restoration. The locomotives are:[2]
- C 132 (operational)
- C 847 (operational)
- D 137 (awaiting restoration)
- D 143 (awaiting restoration)
- DE 505 (operational)
- DE 508 (operational)
- ED 101 (static display)
- KA 935 (operational)
- L 219 (undergoing overhaul)
- A & G Price shunter
- RM 30 (operational)
- RM 34 (stored)
- WW 571 (operational)
C 132 is the only working member of the 1873 C class of tank locomotives, built by Dübs & Co. in 1875, and is one of the oldest working locomotives in New Zealand. C 847 is a much larger tender locomotive of the 1930 C class. The largest steam locomotive operated by the railway is KA 935, one of only three survivors in its class and one of the largest steam locomotives built and operated in New Zealand. ED 101 is the sole member of the class that was built by English Electric in the United Kingdom and has slight differences to the members built in New Zealand; because of the three stripes on each side it was known as the "Sergeant". A New Zealand built ED is preserved at the Ferrymead Railway.
[edit] Rolling stock
The railway owns an assortment of rolling stock, some in operational condition while others are awaiting or under restoration. One of the most notable items of rolling stock is a 50' passenger carriage of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway (WMR), No. 48, later NZR A 1126. Although four WMR passenger carriages are known to exist, this is the only one under restoration. WMR No. 50 (NZR A 1130) is stored at the railway, unrestored.
[edit] Operation
Trains run on most Sundays and on special occasions. The railway has held "Thomas and Friends" days based on the theme of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and these have proven to be very popular with children.
[edit] References
- ^ Geoffrey B. Churchman and Tony Hurst, The Railways of New Zealand (Auckland: HarperCollins, 1991), 217.
- ^ Silver Stream Railway, "Locomotives", accessed 13 June 2007.
