STRATFORD - OKAHUKURA RAILWAY

stratford to okahukura railway is known as the SOL, is goes from the township of stratford in central taranaki and heads east inland going through some remote farmlands till it gets to okahukura, a small seattlement a few kilometers north of taumarunui on the north islands main trunk line.check out the article about "finding the forgotten" at www.taranakidailynews.co.nz , there is a lot of history with the railway running through this area and was somewhat the main backbone for transporting people, cattle & sheep + supplies to the remote area as road access was very poor in early days. you can see on tunnels #8-9 & 10 there all build about the 1927-29 erea. theres about 25 tunnels on this line over the distance of around 150 kilometers, however due to a derailment in november 2009 damaging about 8kms of track, it is still not sure if it will be reopened. its has been poorly mantained over the years and need alot of dollars and work put into it. being used for 1 return trip most weeknights and as a detour when maintance or derailments happen between Marton and Taumarunui. still yet to be decided about its future, there is a group that if it does close want to rip up the rails and turn it into a biking trail. what will be the outcome??? only time will tell at present. pictures are between stratford and just past tangarakau. when i have more time i will photo the whole line **** since i first put this vid on here the line has been mothballed by kiwirail for a couple of years, then they well try and decide what more to do, theres a steam train AB being restored in stratford and the group have been talking with kiwirail about possible future usage running passanger / tourist out to whangamomona and return, but theres still along time before the train is restored anyway****

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• nzr
• toll
• translink
• wagons
• tunnels
• bush
• forgotten
• highway

[dft7200]

Great video, much enjoyed watching it. It would be a great line to cycle but hopefully they save the line and run passenger and freight trains on it again!!!

[fatnuts777666]

@dft7200 i have to sit on the fence to this, it would be great as a trail but i'd also love to see it used for freight and passanger trains still, it is truely a magical place, i will be goin back at some stage in near future to check out the condition of the line since in was last out there back in march, and i may make a new vid bout it, cheers

[Rawrnz]

cool vid

would be cool to walk this before they make their final decision for this line.. was it much of a mission?

[fatnuts777666]

@Rawrnz , hi ya, yer we walked in 5.5kms before turning back, looking at your vids youd know its not easy walking on ballast or tracks, 1 tunnel that we went through was 1km long, that seems to take forever to get through. and the area is very remote country, but we had fun and i will be going back soon to get more picks, still waiting to hear what is happening with the line, that i saw was a guy who had made a bike to ride the rails, and toll let him try it out that way for bout 20kms, cheers

[2nguyen2]

What would be the travelling time for a passenger train on this railway ?

What would be the average speed on this line when properly mantained ?

[joshevershed]

Nar, dont turn it into a cycletrack. There is a Stramtrain (Traranaki Flyer) getting restored in Stratford, and we want the line to aq tourist attraction. it will work for all.

[softwareofexcellence]

They should turn it into a cycleway. The region is amazing.