Remutaka Rail Trail, Historic rail trail in Upper Hutt City, New Zealand.
The Remutaka Rail Trail runs 22 kilometres from Maymorn to Cross Creek along the original Wairarapa Line over the Remutaka Range, including the Rimutaka Incline. It passes through Price's Tunnel (98 m), Siberia Tunnel (108 m), Summit Tunnel (584 m) and the restored Ladle Bend Creek and Pakuratahi bridges.
The Wairarapa Line over the Remutaka Range closed in 1955, after which the Wellington City and Suburban Water Supply Board took over the corridor and kept the bridges for forestry access. The Incline section passed to the New Zealand Forest Service, which cleared the Cross Creek yard and drained the Summit Tunnel in 1984. The Rimutaka Rail Trail opened on 1 November 1987 as a joint project of the Wellington Regional Council and the Department of Conservation.
The trail follows the old Wairarapa Line formation, and at Cross Creek the station yard and incline were cleared for walkers in 1984, after the Fell Engine Museum in Featherston and the 1976 book A Line of Railway revived interest in the incline. Shelter sheds stand at Cross Creek and Summit, and the Ladle Bend Creek and Pakuratahi bridges were restored by the regional council in 2002 and 2001.
Allow about six hours to walk the full 18 km between Cross Creek and Kaitoke. From the Cross Creek car park it is a half-hour walk to the old station yard. There is no car park at the Kaitoke end; the nearest is at Plateau Road or Maymorn station. A torch helps in the tunnels.
The trail preserves visible sections of the original Fell rack rail system embedded in the ground as you walk. These remnants show the ingenious solution that made it possible for trains to operate where standard railways could not reach.
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