Waitara Railway Preservation Society

Story

The Waitara Railway Preservation Society is a society established in 1999 to operate a heritage railway over the former Waitara Industrial Branch Railway that operated between Lepperton and Waitara in the New Plymouth District of New Zealand's North Island. The line had been closed that year after 124 years of operation, after the closure of the local AFFCO freezing works in the town.The preserved lineThe preserved line begins at the northern end of the Lepperton Railway Yards and continues parallel to the Marton - New Plymouth Railway for a few hundred meters before turning right towards the Waiongana Stream. After crossing the stream the line runs to the former Waitara Road station in Brixton. The line continues from here towards Waitara, passing underneath State Highway 3 at Big Jim's Overpass. Finally, the line drops into the Waitara Valley and into the township of Waitara, finishing just before the Waitara River.In Waitara, most of the infrastructure is gone with only the main line and one loop remaining in the yard. The former Tahora station has been relocated to Waitara Road, where the society's rolling stock is stored. The site of the Lepperton railway station & yard is still owned and operated by KiwiRail, where the station building was removed in 1994