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Belmont railway viaduct
The towering Belmont railway viaduct, which bridged a deep gully at Paparangi, northeast of Johnsonville, Wellington, was built in 1885 by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR). The original wooden trestle structure (seen here) was the largest of its kind in New Zealand, standing 125 ft (38 m) high and 341 ft (102 m) long. It was replaced by a new steel viaduct in 1903. From 1908 (when the government purchased the WMR line) until 1937 (when the Tawa Flat deviation was opened) the viaduct formed part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway. Subsequently bypassed, it lay rusting for 14 years until it was demolished by Territorial Army engineers on 15 December 1951.
Alexander Turnbull Library,
Reference: 1/2-066673-F
Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Library through its 'Timeframes' website, http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa must be obtained before any reuse of this image.
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GoogleHow to cite this page: 'Belmont railway viaduct', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/belmont-railway-viaduct, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 15-Dec-2009
Thanks for this, Mark - these look great in hi def on the NDHA site. Might be worth a wee slideshow I reckon.
Jamie Mackay
Jamie Mackay
Photos of the demolition of the Viaduct are on Timeframes 114/409/08-G, 114/409/09-G and 114/409/10-G. The Onslow Historian No 26 1996 has a history of the Viaduct.
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