Summit Railway Station, New Zealand
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Summit
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| Formerly New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR) | |
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| Coordinates | 41°8′41.29″S 175°11′48.93″E / 41.1448028°S 175.1969250°E |
| Owned by | Formerly Railways Department Now Greater Wellington Regional Council |
| Line(s) | Formerly part of Wairarapa Line |
| Platforms | None |
| Tracks | Main (2), crossing loops (2), sidings (5) |
| History | |
| Opened | 12 October 1878 |
| Closed | 30 October 1955 |
Summit railway station was at the summit of the Wairarapa Line over the Rimutaka Ranges in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island and was where trains were marshalled for a descent down the Rimutaka Incline or for Fell locomotives to be extricated from a train that had ascended the Incline. The station was between Kaitoke and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa Line. The station was bypassed when the Rimutaka Tunnel was opened.
Summit had no platform or other passenger facilities, did not consign goods or otherwise serve any settlement save for the railway staff based there, and had no road access at any time during its operation.
Construction of Summit station was covered by the Summit Contract for the Rimutaka Incline. Seven tenders were submitted for the work, with the contract being let to Messrs. Collie, Scott and Wilkinson for the sum of £18,701. It was expected that the contract would be completed between 12 July 1874 and 22 July 1876, and covered the station yard, drainage works and Summit Tunnel.
The yard was formed by cutting a terrace into the hillside, with the excavated fill being dumped on the opposite side of the yard. Further ground was levelled in the hillside above the yard on which houses were built. Over time, further ground was filled in on which to extend the yard and tracks.
Once the yard had taken shape, work started on the tunnel, which was originally known as Rimutaka Tunnel. It was to be approached through a cutting six chains long and up to 60 feet deep. The line started out at a gradient of 1 in 1,000 on entering the tunnel for 12 chains, 1 in 300 for 11 chains, then got progressively steeper at 1 in 92, 44, 20 and exited the tunnel at 1 in 15. The tunnel had a horseshoe cross-section, with the apex being at 15 feet.
Six weeks into the contract and the approaches to the Wellington end of the yard had been excavated to a depth of 10 feet for about six chains, a depth that had to be increased later. At the Wairarapa end of the workings, the approach cutting to the tunnel had been completed and about 40 feet of the tunnel driven. In December 1874, on learning of the slow progress the contractors were making on the tunnel, the Government made the first of many complaints, which seemed to have the desired effect. The Evening Post, a critic of the railway, reported in the following March that work was proceeding rapidly and satisfactorily.
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