At the very end of the Stillwater - Ngakawau line you will find the Solid Energy coal loading facility, located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Coal is mined at the Stockton mine and then transported via a 2.2km long aerial ropeway down to the loading facility here at Ngakawau. Once the 30 wagons have been loaded, the train will travel back to the East Coast over the Southern Alps to the port of Lyttelton where the coal will then be exported overseas.
Trains on 3' 6" (1.067m) track from Whangarei to Bluff with virtually heritage rebuilt EMD and GE locomotives still the mainstay power. The network was privatized in 1990's and operated by Toll until 2008 when state owned KiwiRail was established.
