Hutt Valley Line - Construction

Construction

The Hutt Valley line was the first railway out of Wellington, preceding the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company's west coast route, which was later acquired by the New Zealand Railways Department and incorporated into the North Island Main Trunk. The first proposal for a railway line from Wellington to the Rimutakas was put to the Wellington provincial government by Robert Stokes in 1858, and five years later the government gave support to the idea. In 1866, the government's investigating committee approved the line and the Wellington, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa Railway Ordinance was passed on 2 July 1866. It authorised a line to be built to either standard gauge of 4 ft 8.5 in (1435 mm), or a narrow gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), but sufficient funds could not be raised in England and the railway proposal was temporarily abandoned.

In 1870, Premier Julius Vogel included a railway from Wellington to the Wairarapa in his "Great Public Works" policy, and while in London to raise funds for a number of projects in this policy, he was approached by contractors Brogden & Sons. They received a contract to survey and construct the first portion of the line, from Wellington to Lower Hutt, and construction began on 20 August 1872, with the first sod turned at Pipitea in Wellington. The railway took longer to construct due to the difficulties associated with stabilising the shoreline of Wellington Harbour. In July 1873, the railway reached Kaiwharawhara, followed by Ngauranga in early 1874 and Lower Hutt on 14 April 1874. Steam locomotives had now arrived to work the line and a service began, with four trains daily each way (three on Sundays).

Construction of the next section to Upper Hutt along the western bank of the Hutt River proceeded swiftly. On 11 May 1874, a contract was let to Charles McKirdy, and the line was opened to Silverstream in December 1875; this included a 272-metre bridge across the Hutt River just before Silverstream, and in other locations thousands of bags of cement had to be used to stabilise the railway's route alongside the river. The line opened to Upper Hutt on 1 February 1876. Kaitoke was reached on 1 January 1878, followed by the first section into the Wairarapa on 12 August 1878 to Featherston. This section descended the Rimutaka ranges via the Rimutaka Incline.

Pipitea terminus in Wellington was destroyed by fire on 16 January 1878, but remained open. A permanent replacement further south on Featherston Street opened on 1 November 1880; it was moved northwards to near the intersection of Thorndon and Lambton Quays in 1885 and later became known as Lambton Railway Station. It was replaced by the present Wellington Railway Station on Bunny Street in 1937.

The route alongside the harbour from Wellington to Lower Hutt was straightened and duplicated. The work was approved in 1903 by the Hutt Railway and Road Improvement Act, and began in 1904. From Lower Hutt it was completed to Petone (1905), Rocky Point (1906), Paparangi Point (1907), Ngauranga (1908), Kaiwharawhara (1909), and Wellington in 1911.

In the 1900s a number of new stations and sidings were added: Trentham in 1907; Melling, Gosse and Co’s siding, Pitcaithly's (station and siding), Belmont Quarry Co’s siding (not to be confused with the Belmont Railway Station), Silverstream Bridge and Heretaunga in 1908.