The Phoenix Meat Company Siding

ANZCO Foods Kokiri

Before 1980, the New Zealand meat industry was tightly controlled through a government licensing system however, this all changed in 1981, when the then National Government under Prime Minister Rob Muldoon opened up the meat industry by delicensing the meat processing sector.

Through delicensing, Auckland Farmers’ Freezing Company also known as AFFCO, Waitaki, Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, Challenge Corporation, Thomas Bothwicks and Sons, and Weddel lost their long-standing monopoly. This allowed smaller operators to enter the export market. Within a few years the large companies faced overcapacity and decline leading the rationalisation of the meat industry and the closure of nine of the massive old multi chain plants located across New Zealand.

One of the smaller meat processing companies to emerge at this time was the Phoenix Meat Company.

The people behind the Phoenix Meat Company saw an opening in the market and instead of building a traditional freezing works, built a smaller modern beef plant specifically for the high value Japanese and American markets.

Opened in 1991, the plant was strategically located in Kokiri, 19 kilometers inland from Greymouth, to meet the needs of local farmers. Prior to its opening livestock had to be transported across the Southern Alps to be processed in Canterbury. This added additional cost, and stress on the animals. Its location next to the Midland line was also intentional as it allowed the efficient movement of containers of chilled and frozen meat to port for export.

The plant is now owned by ANZCO Foods, a multinational meat processor and exporter. The plant employs over 190 people and processes around 105,000 animals a year. While the plant is now called ANZCO Foods Kokiri, the siding is still known as the Phoenix Meat Company Siding in the interlocking and signalling diagram for this area..

An elevated view of the railway siding and meatworks under construction in 1990. Photo by R.W. Sutherland.

The sidings under construction at the Phoenix Meat Company's meatworks in Kokiri in 1990. photo taken from the eastern end of the siding. Photo by R.W. Sutherland.

The siding area starts with the Blair Road level crossing which provides road access to the plant.

Blair Road Level Crossing.

Blair Road level crossing looking west towards Phoenix siding.

The siding was originally a loop off the main line with sidings to the cool stores. Today it is a dead-end siding accessed from the eastern end. The western end points look to have been removed recently. 

The interlocking for the ANZCO siding from the KiwiRail Kokiri - Moana Signalling and Interlocking Diagram.

As the siding comes off the main line, there is a switch lock at the points for the siding. To access the siding, a shunter will use a key to unlock the switch lock. This allows the points to be thrown for the siding and locks all the signals in the area to danger (red). The signals will only return to normal operation once the switch lock is locked and secured. There is also another point that leads to a short runaway track. These points also need to be unlocked and thrown for the siding when shunting is taking place. 

Mainline points leading to the siding.

Mainline points, switch lock and points lever.

Switch lock, points lever and points indicator for the mainline points.

Points, points lever and indicator for the short runaway siding.

Track leading into the siding.

The siding itself was built at the same time as the plant and was a key piece of infrastructure for the company. Although the siding is still in use, almost all the finished product is now transported by road, with only three or four containers shipped by rail a day.

Container wagons waiting to be picked up by the daily Greymouth to Christchurch freight train later in the evening.

To reach the cool stores, there is a switchback. No shunting locomotives are used at the siding with wagons being moved using a front-end loader. Wagons are moved off the loop siding, through the switchback and reversed into the cool store.

The coolstores and the points leading to the switch back.

Coolstores and loading shelter.

Front on shot of one of the large coolstores.

An interesting find was an old UK container wagons in the coolstore siding. New Zealand Railways started building UK class container wagons in 1971 to cope with the rapid adaption and use of the ISO containers. These quickly became the most numerous class of wagon in New Zealand with over 1,200 in service. Finding one of these wagons is rare as the vast majority have been replaced with newer wagon types like the IK class.

The UKB at the siding was an upgraded varient of the UK class with heavier duty components and upgraded bogies so they could be used on express trains. Today, UKB 465 is now used to carry containers around the siding and doesn't go beyond the siding.

UKB 465

Container wagon IK11298.

When it was built, the Phoenix Siding was a loop siding with access off the mainline at both ends. As tonnage from the plant reduced and train schedules changed, the points at the west end were no longer required and have been removed. This siding is now almost exclusively served by the evening Greymouth to Christchurch freight service.

Former location of the points at the west end of the siding.

The Phoenix Meat Company siding lookeing from the west.

Railfans will often look at the West Coast and see it as a place of coal trains and the Tranz Alpine. This siding is a great example of KiwiRail moving other freight from the Coast across the Southern Alps to domestic and export markets. As a railfan, it's another interesting location on the West Coast rail network to explore.

And thats about it.