JAW DROPPING ACHIEVEMENTS

The Taieri Gorge train ride has been called “one of the world’s great train trips”.  The 154km trip involves a journey through the wild, rugged gorge that Victorian grit and determination managed to conquer with a dramatic rail line connecting Dunedin to the Central Otago town of Cromwell.

ENGINEERING MARVEL

Construction began on the Central Otago railway line in June 1879 and it took a staggering 12 years to complete the first 65 kilometres, then a further 30 years to complete the line all the way to Cromwell. When you discover there are 35 bridges and viaducts as well as 12 tunnels in the Taieri Gorge, the long construction time makes some sense, especially when it was all done with pick and shovel. Thousands of tons of hard schist rock had to be blasted to form the bed for the rails. Expert stonemasons then cut and shaped this sharp rock to build the beautiful buttresses and piers that make this rail trip so interesting. read more