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Denniston Incline
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DescriptionThe Denniston incline was a steeply graded incline railway that connected Denniston at the top with the Conns Creek Branch. It carried coal from the mines on the Denniston Plateau. The incline fell 510 metres in 1.7 kilometres, with some sections having gradients over 1 in 1.3.
The track gauge was the standard NZR track gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) and the system was designed to supply coal ships at Westport. The wagons used on the incline were the ubiquitous “Q” class hopper wagons that could be detached from their wagon bodies and lifted by wharf crane over the hold of a ship, and the bottom discharge doors of the wagons opened manually to discharge coal into the ships' holds.
The 'Incline' was actually two inclines. The higher of the two began at Denniston, and descended steeply to the appropriately named "Middle Brake". Here wagons were disconnected from the first incline's rope, and placed on the rope of the second incline for a more gentle descent to Conns Creek, where the accumulated wagons would then be marshalled into trains to be taken to Westport.
The Denniston incline worked by gravity: the descending loaded wagons of coal pulled up the empty wagons. The braking system of the winding drums used hydraulic pistons to slow them rotation of the drums. The drum from Middle Brake, is on display at Westport's Coaltown Museum. The ascending side was known as the "Donkey Side", the descending side was the "Company Side".
The two inclines were single line operation with passing loops, where the empty and full wagons crossed. Collisions were not unknown: the remains of several wrecked wagons still lie beside the incline formation. A number of workers or people travelling on the incline died as a result of collisions and runaways
Location (city or town)DennistonMap[1]
The track gauge was the standard NZR track gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) and the system was designed to supply coal ships at Westport. The wagons used on the incline were the ubiquitous “Q” class hopper wagons that could be detached from their wagon bodies and lifted by wharf crane over the hold of a ship, and the bottom discharge doors of the wagons opened manually to discharge coal into the ships' holds.
The 'Incline' was actually two inclines. The higher of the two began at Denniston, and descended steeply to the appropriately named "Middle Brake". Here wagons were disconnected from the first incline's rope, and placed on the rope of the second incline for a more gentle descent to Conns Creek, where the accumulated wagons would then be marshalled into trains to be taken to Westport.
The Denniston incline worked by gravity: the descending loaded wagons of coal pulled up the empty wagons. The braking system of the winding drums used hydraulic pistons to slow them rotation of the drums. The drum from Middle Brake, is on display at Westport's Coaltown Museum. The ascending side was known as the "Donkey Side", the descending side was the "Company Side".
The two inclines were single line operation with passing loops, where the empty and full wagons crossed. Collisions were not unknown: the remains of several wrecked wagons still lie beside the incline formation. A number of workers or people travelling on the incline died as a result of collisions and runaways
Location (city or town)DennistonMap[1] Photograph
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West Coast New Zealand History (13th Jun 2015). Denniston Incline. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 24th Mar 2026 16:20, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/1087