Glen Massey Line
| Glen Massey Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Overview | |||
| Status | Closed | ||
| Owner | Private then State Mines Department | ||
| Termini | |||
| Service | |||
| Operator(s) | Private then New Zealand Railways Department | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1 March 1914 | ||
| Closed | 19 May 1958 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 10.64 km (6.61 mi) | ||
| Number of tracks | Single | ||
| Character | Rural/Industrial | ||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| |||
The Glen Massey Line was a private railway of 10.6 km near Ngāruawāhia in the Waikato region of New Zealand, built to serve coal mines, and, from 1935, run by the New Zealand Railways Department. The line had grades of 1 in 40, sharp curves – sharpest 6 ch (400 ft; 120 m) and 40 of less than 10 ch (660 ft; 200 m) – and 22 bridges, including a 91.5-metre-long and 18.3-metre-high timber trestle bridge over Firewood Creek halfway between Ngāruawāhia and Glen Massey and a 70-foot-long (21 m) bridge, adapted in 1917 to take sheep, on 52 ft (16 m) piles over the Waipā River, as well as the railway, after collapse of the road bridge.