Driving Creek Railway

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The Driving Creek Railway is a narrow-gauge bush and mountain railway near Coromandel on New Zealand’s North Island. It climbs up a hill to Eyefull Tower, a viewing platform about 165 meters above the surrounding country.

The railway was built by potter Barry Brickell on his property. Construction began in 1975, using 15-inch gauge track to move clay and firewood to his kiln. In 1975 Brickell bought a larger block of land and expanded into the Driving Creek Railway and Potteries. The line’s purpose grew beyond transporting materials: it also helped replant the hillsides with kauri and other native plants.

Over about 25 years the railway grew into one of the few completely new railways in New Zealand. It crosses steep terrain with civil engineering feats such as a double-deck viaduct, three tunnels, ten bridges, and very steep inclines (up to 1 in 14). A short branch to a firewood drying shed is visible to passengers but isn’t used by trains. The passenger trip takes around an hour round trip, ending at Eyefull Tower. The tower, completed in 2004, was designed to echo Bean Rock Lighthouse in Auckland, and a viewing deck was added in 2005.

Today the railway attracts more than 30,000 visitors each year, with much of the money going to nature conservation, replanting native forest, and maintaining a wildlife sanctuary and sculpture park along the line.

In 2004 heavy rainfall caused slips on the approaches to the Double-Deck Viaduct, damaging parts of the track near tunnels 2 and 3 and higher sections near the Hoki Mai loop. Trains terminated beyond the Taniwha tunnel while repairs were made, including two new bridges and a concrete retaining wall to prevent future slips.

Rolling stock includes three self-built diesel railcars: Possum (1999), a 14-seat one-car unit; and Snake (1992) and Linx (2004), both 36-seat, three-unit articulated railcars. There are two diesel locomotives as well: Dieselmouse (1979), a small 0-4-0DM used mainly for shunting, and Elephant (1980), an 0-4-4-0DM used for work trains and to haul the line’s lone passenger carriage, the Vintage Train, when extra capacity is needed.

The line climbs the hill behind Brickell’s pottery, zigzagging with five reversing points. The Eyefull Tower is a wooden, octagonal building at the terminus, offering broad views of the coast and hills.