Mike Yardley: Riding the rails through the Forgotten World - Saturday Morning with Jack Tame

In all my travels, I’ve never encountered anything quite like it, particularly given its magnitude. Prising open the mighty King Country, Forgotten World Adventures (FWA) offers remarkable excursions, riding the rails of an abandoned railway line, stretching from the northern tip of the Ruapehu District to heartland Taranaki. It’s not only an enduring totem to our guts-and-glory pioneering heritage but a more modern-day manifestation of gritty Kiwi ingenuity – and repurposing!

Based in Taumarunui, FWA is an incredibly enterprising tourism venture boasting a compelling platter of soft adventure excursions, prising open the legends, heritage and unspoilt scenery of the hinterland. Forgotten World Adventures re-opened 142 kilometres of this decommissioned railway line in 2012, including 24 tunnels and 92 bridges – all built from hand. Founded by Ian Balme, this Waikato farmer dared to dream big, turning a mothballed rusting eyesore into a visionary business. For the past three years, FWA has been owned and operated by Grant Ross and Laura Wackett. They both have a fascinating backstory, principally in international television production, while Grant was also previously a professional rugby player in South Africa and France. 

Originally from Wellington, Grant is revelling in steering a homegrown enterprise, which was quite the baptism of fire given New Zealand was still wrestling with Covid when he purchased the business. He’s very hands-on and highly engaging with guests. It was fascinating to chat to him about the challenges and rewards of the job – like when a massive storm buried the tunnel entrances in a pile of mud! The prohibitive costs of constant track maintenance underpinned KiwiRail’s decision to pull the plug on the line’s operation in 2010.

Taking nearly 32 years to build, the Stratford – Okahukura Line (SOL) finally opened in 1932 and linked up with the main trunk line through Taumarunui to Auckland. Working gangs sawed and blasted their way through the bush-draped hinterland to lay the tracks of this steel artery. It cost 2.5 million pounds to build this line, equating to billions of dollars today – the most expensive rail line in our nation’s history. They even built massive timber-trestle viaducts across the likes of the Mangatatoko Ravine, now overgrown in bush, because it would have been too difficult to maintain such a sky-high bridge. The engineering prowess was extraordinary. The line had been commissioned to transport products from the emerging farming, coal and logging industries.  At its peak, there were 15 stations in operation on this line – now, concrete platforms serve as sobering memorial slabs to a bygone age.

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