Building Nelson-West Coast railway

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DescriptionMy fathers uncle Ted Mcconnan is in this' photo, I think on the right, they are working on building the railway between Nelson and the West Coast.

After an abortive attempt to start work on a Belgrove to Tophouse route in the 1880s, the Midland Railway Company, having been selected to continue construction of the line beyond Belgrove, chose a route that passed through the Spooner Range by a summit tunnel. The intention was that the line would continue westwards via Murchison and the Buller River gorge to the nearest railhead, at Inangahua Junction.

The Railways Authorization Act 1924 (No 36) authorised several lines; No 9 was an extension of the Midland Line. The Schedule specified:

Name of Railway: Midland
Extent Authorized: "An extension of the authorized line from near the confluence of the Owen and Buller Rivers to Murchison. Length about 12 miles." (19.3 km)
Though the terminus of the Nelson Line for most of its existence was at Glenhope, the Glenhope to Kawatiri section was opened on 21 June 1926 and by 1930 trains could be run beyond Kawatiri to Gowanbridge. Formation work continued beyond Gowanbridge to the Mangles River, some 24 km beyond Gowanbridge and just 6 km shy of Murchison.

In January 1931 the government ordered an immediate halt to all work on the line, ostensibly due to economic conditions. It was estimated that at the time the work stopped it would have required only a further six months to finish all the formation work to the 82 mile peg and ballasting and platelaying work could have started within months and been completed without interruption all the way to Murchison. The goal of a connection at Inangahua fell short by 42 miles, a failure that eventually contributed to the demise of the section.

Despite a trial line survey done in 1939 and promises made during the 1949 election campaign by both major political parties to restore the section of line between Glenhope and Gowanbridge and to continue it on to Murchison, no further work was undertaken beyond Glenhope.Map^[1]External LinkNelson Railway proposalsContributorKeith Kelly

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Location (city or town)West CoastPersonTed McconnanEventBuilding Nelson-West Coast railway

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Building Nelson-West Coast railway

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