Short history of NZ rail preservation
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Early preservation efforts in New Zealand were restricted to static public display of locomotives, probably the first a Double Fairlie E class in Dunedin in the 1920s. In 1944 rail enthusiasts formed the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society and branches were soon established up and down the country. The NZRLS Otago Branch initiated active rail preservation in Dunedin in 1960 with a small industrial steam locomotive. Similar works were soon started in Christchurch (Ferrymead Railway), Auckland (Glenbrook Vintage Railway), Wellington (Silverstream Railway) and the Waikato by the NZRLS Canterbury Branch, Railway Enthusiasts Society (former NZRLS Auckland Branch), NZRLS Wellington Branch and NZRLS Waikato Branch.
Other notable efforts during the 1960s and 70s were begun by Steam Incorporated of Wellington, Pleasant Point Railway, Ashburton Railway and Preservation Society, Museum of Transport and Technology, Canterbury Steam Preservation Society and the Otago Excursion Train Trust. Most of these groups had their beginnings in the demise of steam from New Zealand Railways during the era. Most of the early societies were established to acquire and preserve locomotives and rolling stock, with a short line on which to operate and in some cases extensive museum type displays. Steam Incorporated and the Otago Excursion Train Trust were however founded on the basis of running trains upon the main lines of the NZR and were later joined in this endeavour by the Railway Enthusiasts Society and a newer group, Mainline Steam Trust. Early trips by these groups were diesel haulage of their respective carriage fleets but a relaxation of the NZR's steam ban in the early 1980s combined with the opportunity to commemorate some significant anniversaries led to the operation of heritage steam on the main lines. NZR also formed a preservation operation, the Kingston Flyer, in 1971 with two steam locomotives. This operation was later taken over by a private company.
Although the pace of preservation has slowed through the 1980s and beyond, several more operations involving longer lines have been established, as well as the more traditional museum-focused operation. The Weka Pass Railway, Bay of Islands Vintage Railway, Taieri Gorge Railway and Goldfields Steam Train Society took over parts of old branch lines in Canterbury, Northland, Otago and the Bay of Plenty respectively. Christchurch's Diesel Traction Group was formed in 1983 to preserve diesel locomotives exclusively and now has a collection of four such locomotives based on the Ferrymead Railway. Several other groups also acquired some of the early mainline diesels as they were withdrawn from NZR service. Other societies and museums have been established in Oamaru, Dunedin, Southland, Nelson, Reefton, Westport, Greymouth, Blenheim, Masterton, Feilding, Wanganui, Pahiatua, Waitara, Gisborne and other places.
The most ambitious heritage project to date is the Rimutaka Incline Railway which proposes to construct from scratch a new railway line over an existing historic formation abandoned in 1955. This is the route of the former Rimutaka Hill railway and Rimutaka Incline over a distance of some 20 km, including 5 km of the 1 in 15 Incline worked by the Fell centre rail system. Although the Taieri Gorge Railway in Dunedin is a much longer, successful heritage railway at 60 km length, it has the advantage that all its track was still in place at the time it was set up in 1990. The Rimutaka proposal faces many obstacles from the construction of new track and formation rehabilitation works, to the building of new locomotives of the "Fell" type. At this time, the project is in the planning stages and it will be some years before any construction works are able to be commenced.