Riverton Loco Pit.

Railway: Tuatapere Branch
Distance (from zero peg): 9.6km
Nearest town: Riverton
Accessibility: Easy, drive over it if ya wanna.
Pros: Easy to find, by the water, Fish n Chips.
Cons: Negligible

Out in Riverton for work the other day, got chips for lunch, so popped over to the Riverton station site to devour them. After my feast, I wandered around whilst enjoying my post-meal ciggie. "That looks lie a loco pit" I said to myself as I walked, and so it was.
There is also the station platform and a loading bank on the site, which I will detail in a future post.
Apologies for the crappy pic quality, was an incredibly windy day out there, and bright and hazy. I've tried to clean them up somewhat.

 ↑ Looking across from pit to station platform, which is behind the hut on the trailer.

↑ Estuary beach directly behind the pit, looking toward the sad remaining causeway of the once iconic Riverton railway bridge, destroyed in an monumental act of moronic stupidity, which this country has become sadly adept at over the last few years.

↑ Looking opposite direction. Turntable site is at end of row of trees.

Hopefully return soon to check out more here.

Fairlight Abandoned Track and Mataura River Bridge Site. (Explored 24/3/19)

Railway: Kingston Branch
Distance (from zero peg): 124-127km
Nearest town: Kingston
Accessibility: Easy
Pros: Pleasant location, awesome NZ 'big country' vistas, sexy tourists.
Cons: I don't live close enough!

Bit of a wander around the Fairlight area. Gorgeous day. Smell of gorse. NZ! Awesome!

 ↑ Looking reminiscent of pics I've seen of abandoned railways in the California desert.

 ↑ 127km peg!

 ↑ Where the line exits the cutting to emerge onto the long embankment into Fairlight station.

  ↑ Aforementioned embankment buried under a sea of gorse.

 ↑ My ass has click-clacked over this rail joint a fair few times.

 ↑ End Of Rails.

 ↑ Te Araroa Trail swingbridge on the site of railway bridge over Mataura River. Whereas the swing bridge is aligned with the original railway bridge abutments on the south bank, the north swingbridge abutment appears to be ever so slightly downstream of the railway bridge abutment.

 ↑ Final pic. As a keen student of loco/railway dumps, the upstream side of the south bank seems to be a sitter for a dump site. On a previous visit many years ago I found a buffer and half a gas cut wagon headstock about 30m upstream among the willows. They have since disappeared.

Easily accessible, scenic, full of railway interest. A great place for a fossic!!

OIL Bridge 38 (aka ORB Bridge 1)

Railway: Ohai Industrial Line
Distance (from zero peg): 68km
Nearest town: Wairio
Accessibility: Easy
Pros: Pleasant location
Cons: A giant f**kin' wasp nest under the bridge!


A couple of weeks ago I called in at a place I've been meaning to check out for many years. I know it's not strictly a Ghost Railway, but the ORB is gone so I guess it qualifies...

 ↑ Northern approach to bridge, looking south.

↑ 68km Peg

↑ Looking south.

↑ Looking north.

↑ I'm guessing rails are about 8-10m from the creekbed.

↑ The singular concrete pier.

 ↑ North to Nightcaps.

The things that interested me here was the non-standard concrete ORB bridge pier, the height of the bridge above the stream and the steep southbound grade from the bridge up to the Wairio yard, about 1.5km south of here. An interesting visit, wasps and all!