Otago Central Rail Trail
The Otago Central Rail Trail is a 152 km long hiking and cycling trail in Otago on the South Island of New Zealand. The path is cleared for hiking, biking and horseback riding, exactly follows a section of the old route of the Otago Central Railways, which ran from Middlemarch to Clyde.
Geography
The Otago Central Rail Trail crosses of Middlemarch starting the level of Strath Taieri in northwards to Hyde and then follows the Taieri River at the northern end of the Rock and Pillar Range around to the west. From Waipiata about Ranfurly to Wedderburn according to the route then runs almost straight north- westwards through the Maniototo Plain, and finally makes the highest point of the route from the northern end of Rough Ridge, an arc west through the Ida Valley. Then it goes to the southwest, against about Omakau through the valley of Manuherikia Rivers, Alexandra. From the 90 -degree swivel to the northwest in Alexandra there will be only 8 km to the end point in the city of Clyde, situated on the Clutha River.
History
The start of construction of the Otago Central Railways was in 1879. The line was finally completed 42 years later with the expansion up to Cromwell. The section, which is now mainly used as a boundary trail, was then implemented in four phases ( 1898 to Ranfurly, 1904 to Omakau, 1906 to Alexandra and 1907 to Clyde ).
The entire railway from Dunedin to Cromwell was almost 100 years the backbone of the economic development of the heartland of the Otago region. But better and more flexible transport options of the road network developed over the years made the operation of the railway line increasingly uneconomic.
In December 1989, was finally announced by the Minister of Railways, Richard William Prebble, that the operation of the entire route of the Otago Central Railway will complete set April 30, 1990.
The section of Clyde Cromwell had already been like the dam project of Lake Dunstan victim. The southern 64 km long section of Wingatui after Middlemarch was rescued from the Otago Excursion Train Trust and the City of Dunedin and expanded for the museum railway of the Taieri Gorge Railway. The remaining portion of Middlemarch to Clyde then eventually took over the Department of Conservation, removed the tracks, secured the tunnel and prepared the bridges for public use. Already on 19 November 1995, the first section of the Otago Central Rail Trail from Middlemarch to Hyde from the Minister of Conservation, Denis Marshall, inaugurated and opened to the public. Until the official opening in February 2000, the restoration of the remaining sections to Clyde followed.
Today
The Otago Central Rail Trail is now permanently installed in the tourist offer of Dunedin and the Otago region. That stands behind not only an offer for both leisure and recreational activities, the report of the Otago Central Rail Trail Trust in the year 2008. Typical users of the trails are the cyclists who are 36-50 years old, in groups of three to take four people, mainly coming from the domestic market of the North Island, and when they come from overseas from Australia, prefer the word of mouth and would like information on the Internet. On the side of the providers and the population of the Otago Central Rail Trail are the municipalities of pride and self-confidence and leads to more income and jobs.
According to a recent study from the year 2008 will depend on the 152- km route 552 summer jobs with 235 part-time jobs, which are especially in the peak months of February and March. That's not enough, is currently under consideration on how the tourists additionally gets on the trail and in the particularly weak winter months.
Swell
All sources of information and links in English
- Otago Central Rail Trail - Department of Conservation
- New Zealand 's First Rail Trail - Otago Central Rail Trail Charitable Trust
- Otago Central Rail Trail - OtagoRailTrail.co.nz
- Carla Jellum, Arianne Reis, Otago Central Rail Trail - Economic Impact and Trends Survey 2008, Otago Central Rail Trail Trust, Alexandra, Otago, New Zealand, 2008.
- The History of the Taieri Gorge Railway - Taieri Gorge Railway Ltd.
- The Trust - Taieri Gorge Railway Ltd.
- Otago Provice or Provincial District - An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand 1966, Online, edited by AH McLintock.