Resources
Find a list of useful links and resources to help planning your rail journeys or researching NZ railways.
NZ Rail Websites
www.fronz.org.nz
Federation of Rail Organisations of NZ. Includes a listing of all rail museums & heritage rail operators in NZ. Includes trams.
www.nzrsr.co.nz
NZ Rolling Stock Register. Has listings of all preserved locomotives & rolling stock throughout NZ.
www.railheritage.org.nz
Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. Has a comprehensive register of significant NZ rail heritage items. Especially station buildings & goods sheds.
www.railsoc.org.nz
NZ Railway & Locomotive Society. A very long established organization. Well known for its publications and research archives. One of our regularly operating steam locos, Ab608 Passchendaele is on long term lease from the NZRLS. An extensive archieves collection is based at Ava. Restoration of ex Wellington & Manawatu Railway cars takes place at Silverstream.
www.kiwirail.co.nz
KiwiRail. NZ national rail operator, includes Great Journeys of New Zealand (long distance passenger services & Interislander ferries). Passenger services include The Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific, Tranz Alpine and the Capital Connection. The Capital Connection to Palmerston North uses ex British Mark 2 carriages.
www.metlink.org.nz
Information on Wellington area suburban rail services including frequent Wellington to Masterton train services. Daily Masterton trains use rebuilt ex British Mark 2 carriages hauled by diesel locos.
www.tehuiatrain.co.nz
Te Huia, new rail service running between Hamilton and Auckland. Monday to Saturday. Te Huia uses extensively rebuilt ex British Mark 2 carriages with diesel locos.
www.marlboroughflyer.co.nz
A new summer steam hauled tourist train between Picton and Blenheim that we are associated with. The last season was curtailed because of Covid 19. Next season starts in Jan 2023.
The iconic Kingston Flyer tourist steam train has resumed operation running public trips on Sundays until early June 2023.
Sir Edmund Hillary Explorer
South Island Rail & Coach Tour. Features Marlborough Flyer, Kingston Flyer, Taieri Gorge and Coastal Pacific.
www.wellingtontrams.org.nz
Wellington Tramway Museum and Kapiti Coast Electric Tramway located just up the road from us at Queen Elizabeth Park.
www.kapitiheritage.org.nz/
Details of all the museums in the Kapiti area.
stationmuseum.co.nz/
Paekakariki Station Museum, our neighbouring society. They have several of our smaller items on display.
www.marinenz.com
Kapiti US Marines Trust. Aimed at preserving and promoting World War II US Armed Forces history in the Kapiti district. 15,000 US Marines were based in our area during WWII.
www.Bluetrain.co.nz
A new Kapiti café in Paraparumu utilising two ex Wellington English Electric multiple unit carriages. Only open for group bookings.
www.kapitirail.org.nz
A miniature railway at nearby Raumati Beach.
www.railex.org.nz
RailEx is an annual model railroad exhibition held in the Wellington/Porirua/Hutt area. For 2023 is being held on 18th & 19th November at Taita. Steam Inc usually has a display and sales table.
www.tracksafe.co.nz
NZ rail safety organisation.
Tour Operators and Event Organisers that use our trains plus other websites
www.ontrackevents.co.nz/
Ontrack events specialise in immersive events and experiences that frequently use our train. Highlight trips include the North Pole Express and the Wizard Academy Train.
www.takeiteasytours.nz
Whanganui based tour operator that regularly coordinates coach tours with our train trips.
www.kapiticoastnz.com
The new Kapiti Coast tourism page.
www.passchendaelesociety.org
The prime objective of the Passchendaele Society is to increase community awareness and recognition of the events at Passchendaele and the Western Front related to the Great War of 1914-1918.
www.baytours.co.nz
Hawkes Bay based tour operator with a travel club making regular use of our rail journeys.
www.pounamutourismgroup.com
A South Island based luxury travel operator and promotor of the Marlborough Flyer tourist train, The Dunedin Taieri Gorge Train Tour and the Sir Edmund Hillary South Island Rail & Coach Tour.
Taieri Gorge Train Tour
Tour train aimed at cruise ship passengers running from Port Chalmers to Hindon. Operated by Dunedin Railways on behalf of Pounamu Tourism Group.
www.readersrailtours.co.nz
Stuff (formerly Fairfax) newspaper readers tours. North Island tours often utilise our train for some sectors.
Kapiti Accommodation
www.travelbug.co.nz
Book Wellington accomodation and last minute motel deal.
www.finnshotel.co.nz/
Finns, a modern hotel on the site of the old Paekakariki Hotel. Virtually at the end of the Paekakariki station platform.
www.elliottsmotorlodge.co.nz
Elliotts Comfort Inn. A motel in the centre of Paraparaumu, 2 minutes walk to Railway Station and shopping centre. Suitable if you are connecting with the Northern Explorer.
www.paekakarikiholidaypark.co.nz/
Paekakariki Holiday Park has camping and cabin accommodation. About a 20 min walk to Paekakariki railway station. Most of our train trips depart from the Paekakariki Station platform.
Rail Maps & Our Carriage Fleet Summary
Railway North Island locations [PDF, 88 KB]
Railway South Island locations [PDF, 41 KB]
KiwiRail Network Map
Map of the KiwiRail network, which includes tracks, locations, km pegs, level crossings, bridges and tunnels.
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