Alliance Lorneville's Private Siding

About 10km north of Invercargill is the small village of Lorneville. Lorneville is an agri business hub with a number of businesses that support the Southland farming sector. It is also home to one of the largest meat processing plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, Alliance Lorneville. The plant processes sheep, cattle and deer and employs around 2000 people.

Alliance Lorneville, Lorneville, Southland

Alliance Freezing Company (Southland) Limited was formed in 1948 by a group of Southland farmers. Alliance is now one of the largest meat processers in the country with six meat processing plants in the South Island and two in the North Island.

In the early 1960's Alliance built a new freezing works at Lorneville. At the time it was said to be the first freezing works constructed in New Zealand since the 1930's. To serve the plant, Alliance built a private siding from Lorneville on the former Kingston Branch to their plant, a distance of approximately two kilometers.

Map of private siding to Alliance Lorneville from the Lorneville Station Yard.

The private siding was originally operated by A&G Price shunter number 185. This small 4 wheel shunting locomotive was similar in design to Tr shunting locomotives built by Price for the New Zealand Railways. 185 was built in 1958 and worked the siding until it was replaced in the 1980's and became a stand by locomotive. The locomotive was purchased by the Ocean Beach Railway in December 1993 and has now been restored to its original blue livery.

Ex Lorneville freezing works shunting locomotive number 185 in preservation at the Ocean Beach Railway. It wears the black and yellow stripe livery it wore in its final days at Lorneville.

With 185 starting to show its age after years of hauling heavy trains of meat around the freezing works and down the siding, the locomotive was replaced with two ex NZR DS 0-6-0 diesel shunting locomotives.

Ex NZR diesel shunter DS201. This locomotive replaced number 185 in working the Lornville private siding. Photo by Charlie Watson.

Since the early 2000's the siding has been the domain of DSC shunting locomotives. In 2002, Alliance purchased DSC2421 from Tranz Rail. The locomotive was sent to Hutt Workshops in Lower Hutt for a mechanical tidy up and a repaint into Alliance's yellow and grey livery.

DSC 2421 in Alliance Livery. 

DSC2421 worked the siding until the 2020's when it was replaced by leased DSC's from KiwiRail. In August 2022, DSC 2421 was trucked to Oamaru Steam and Rail for an overhaul. This locomotive is currently still in Oamaru.

DSC2421 with Harry Andrew at the Oamaru Steam and Rail yard. Photo courtesy of Oamaru Today.

The private siding starts at a set of points at the south end of the Lorneville yard. The siding passes an engine limit board as it curves to the right and heads west.

The private siding points with the exchange sidings at Lorneville yard in the background. The private siding is on the left. Photo taken facing north.

The private siding curves to right past the engine limit board. The line to the left comes off the Wairio Branch to the far left and provides access to the Lorneville yard and exchange sidings.

A photo of number 185 approaching Lorneville station with three loaded V or VB insulated bogie wagons on the same curve on the 12th of May 1964. Photo courtesy of Southland's Ghost Railways Facebook Page. Southland's Ghost Railways page can be found here.

The siding then heads west up a grade towards the Steel Road railway crossing.

Looking down the line from the Steel Road railway crossing towards Lorneville station.

Steel Road railway crossing.

Having a look at the steel road railway crossing I saw that this crossing still had the traditional crossing bells. There wouldn't be many crossings in New Zealand that still has bells ringing out when a train passes. 

The traditional style of railway crossing lights and bells at the Steel Road railway crossing.

The line continues west from the railway crossing alongside Crowe Road before arriving at a small loop.

Looking west from Steel Road railway crossing along Crowe Road towards the short loop.

Points at the eastern end of the loop.

The short loop alongside Crowe Road.

The cross over at the western of the loop.

At the western end of the loop there is a cross over where one line veers to the right, across Crowes Road and into the freezing works site. This siding leads to a large cool store on the eastern boundary of the freezing works.

The line to the cool store crossing Crowe Road into the freezing works.

The cool store at the Lorneville Freezing Works.

The original siding continues heading east for a short distance before curving to the right to cross Crowe Road and enter the freezing works site.

Lorneville Freezing Works Sidings. The locomotive shed and the nose of a DSC shunter can be seen in the distance.

As the siding continues into the Lorneville site there are a number of sidings branching off including one into a basic locomotive shed. As I wasn't authorised to enter the Alliance site, I stayed on the public side of the fence and could only look in and wonder where all the sidings went to.

While I was visiting I didn't see any trains operating but I believe that a shunting service from Invercargill comes out to the Lorneville exchange sidings in the morning and afternoon to pick up and set out wagons for the private sidings. I'm not sure if the DSC's run a shunt on the siding at set times or just as required. Oh to be trackside in the 1980's to watch 185 or DS201 haul a train of UK wagons loaded with TBC insulated containers with their large New Zealand railways logos down the siding.

And that's about it.