Port Chalmers Branch - Construction and Early History

Construction and Early History

Built by the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited, the line was approved by and constructed under the auspices of the Otago Provincial Council, not the national government. However, it was built to the recently adopted national gauge of 1067 mm (3 feet 6 inches), and it was the first line in the country with that gauge to open, on 1 January 1873. The line was formally opened by Sir George Bowen, former Governor of New Zealand, on a farewell trip prior to his transfer to Victoria. The first locomotive to run on the line - and the first 1067 mm gauge locomotive to operate in New Zealand - was the E class Josephine, a double Fairlie steam locomotive. whose local popularity ensured she was retained beyond her retirement from service on the railways in 1917 and is preserved today in the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin.

Much of the Port Chalmers line is now part of the Main South Line from Christchurch to Dunedin. When the first section of the main line, from Dunedin to Waitati, opened in December 1877 a junction was established at Sawyers Bay. The section from Dunedin to Sawyers Bay became part of the Main South Line, while the remaining two kilometres to Port Chalmers became the Port Chalmers Branch. In 1880 the line was vested in the newly established New Zealand Railways Department, and the private company dissolved.