ON TRACK TO OPUA

Bridge repairs pave the way for the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway to go full steam ahead

Sheryl Bainbridge

There’s jubilation in the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust (BOIVRT) camp. After almost two years, construction repairs on Long Bridge at Taumarere, the longest curved railway bridge in the southern hemisphere, is finally finished! The last pair of piles were replaced in late October. Now, once the bridge is signed off as being structurally sound, and tracks and safety barriers brought up to standard, there’s no impediment, other than funding, to the BOIVRT’s long-held ambition to take the tourist train the whole 11km along the railway corridor from the main highway in Kawakawa to Opua. The line, converted from bush tramway to metal track in 1870 to carry coal from the Kawakawa mines to the wharf at the once-thriving town of Taumarere, was extended to Opua in 1884. In…

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NZ Today (Digital) - 1 Issue, No 79 Apr-May 18

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