The towering Belmont railway viaduct, which bridged a deep gully at Paparangi, north-east of Johnsonville, Wellington, was built in 1885 by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR). The original wooden trestle structure (seen here) was the largest of its kind in New Zealand, standing 125 ft (38 m) high and 341 ft (102 m) long. It was replaced by a new steel viaduct in 1903. From 1908 (when the government purchased the WMR line) until 1937 (when the Tawa Flat deviation was opened) the viaduct formed part of the North Island Main Trunk Railway. Subsequently bypassed, it lay rusting for 14 years until it was demolished by Territorial Army engineers on 15 December 1951.
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