Nightcaps
Nightcaps has a more industrial
history than most Southland towns due to nearby coal deposits. A
private railway was built from the terminus of the New Zealand
Railways Department's Wairio Branch to Nightcaps to provide more
efficient transport of coal; operated by the Nightcaps Coal
Company, it opened not long after the state's railway reached
Wairio in 1909. In 1918, a proposal was made to build another line
to coal interests around Ohai, and the construction of this line
was fiercely opposed by the Nightcaps Coal Company, fearing a loss
of business. However, construction was approved in July 1919 with a
deviation through Morley Village, considered part of Nightcaps. The
first section of the line, including the part serving Morley
Village, opened on 1 September 1920. Ohai was reached four years
later, and in 1925, the Nightcaps Coal Company ceased to operate;
they handed over their railway line to the Railways Department, who
dismantled it in 1926 as the Ohai line was capable of catering for
traffic from Nightcaps. The Ohai line continues to operate,
primarily for the carriage of coal, and it is one of the few
remaining rural branch lines out of many that once existed
throughout New Zealand. It has been part of the national rail
network since 1 June 1990.
Ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed
upon which railway sleepers (UK) or railroad ties (US) are laid. It
is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to
facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the
railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might
interfere with the track structure. This also serves to hold the
track in place as the trains roll by. It is typically made of
crushed stone, although ballast has sometimes consisted of other,
less suitable materials. The term "ballast" comes from a nautical
term for the stones used to stabilize a ship
Sources: Wikipedia
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