Status Closed Owner Whakatane Board Mills Rolling stock None Closed 2001 | Opened 1939 Character Industrial Termini Awakeri Line length 10 km (6.2 mi) | |
Operator(s) Whakatane Board Mills then Tranz Rail | ||
The Whakatane Board Mills Line of 10 km length was opened about 1939 as a freight only line, and was sometimes referred to as a "private siding".
The line had previously operated from 1937 as a private siding, then as the Matahina Tramway. Two FA steam locomotives were purchased from the New Zealand Railways, No 41 in 1937 and No 250 in 1943. The maximum speed on the line was originally 10 mph, then 20 mph; and trains were piloted over level crossings
Later two Drewry diesel shunting locomotives built in 1949 and 1950 were used to haul log wagons from the Whakatane Board Mills timber mill on the western side of the Whakatane River at Whakatane to the Taneatua Branch terminal at Awakeri.
Tranz Rail took over operations from 3 October 1999, and renamed the line the Whakatane Industrial Siding.
The line was closed on 3 December 2001, and the track was lifted in 2006.