The term "Rimutaka Incline" is sometimes used incorrectly to refer to other parts or all of the closed and deviated section of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Speedy's Crossing, near Featherston.

Julius Vogel, Colonial Treasurer, travelled to England to raise finance for a major public works programme for railway construction.

While the government was conducting its surveys, Wellington Province Superintendent William Fitzherbert instructed his Provincial Engineer, Charles O’Neill, to investigate the possibility of a railway through the Rimutaka Valley (the route of the road between Featherston and Upper Hutt), with a tunnel through the dividing range.

The last option was a three-mile (4.8 km) incline with gradients averaging 1 in 15 "to be worked by locomotives of an unusual nature".

He determined that an incline worked by the Fell system would be suitable, and cited the Mont Cenis Pass Railway as an example.

Though special locomotives would be required, factors in its favour were that ordinary rolling stock could be used and it was a proven system.

It was to be the third and last Fell system employing the centre rail for both tractive power and braking, and the longest surviving.

Excavations removed material to a depth of 15–20 feet, with this fill being dumped on the opposite side of the yard to form level ground.

Despite castigation from various parties, it was not until March 1877 that work on both ends of the tunnel met at the middle, having taken three and a half years to complete.

The contract began outside Summit tunnel and terminated at Featherston, a distance of 8 miles 76 chains (14.403 km).

Several alterations were made to the contract both prior to and during construction, including the replacement of one of three tunnels by a cutting, and three wooden bridges by embankments.

On leaving the tunnel, the line crossed the gully on a high earth and rock embankment, the largest on the section, on a five-chain radius curve.

None of the major earthworks seem to have presented any great difficulties, save the lower tunnel, which was plagued by accidents and materials failures largely because of the unstable nature of the rock through which it passed.

Track laying on the incline commenced in April 1878 and reached Cross Creek the following month.

Initially, only simple arrangements were made for the station yard at Cross's Creek, as it had yet to be decided the nature of operations on the Incline.

After formation work continued beyond Cross Creek, McKirdy ran out of time and money, with the remainder of his contract being picked up by his guarantors, T. W. Young and Robert Greenfield.

As descending trains approached the Cross Creek yard, the driver of the leading locomotive sounded a long whistle, which signalled that all was well.

H class locomotives were not to be operated on any part of the railway other than the Incline, with the sole exception of conveying them to the Petone (and later Hutt) Workshops for maintenance.

In the latter case, bunkers, water tanks and boilers were to be empty and the locomotives were to be towed at a speed not exceeding 10 miles per hour (16 km/h).

These rules were relaxed to allow the locomotives to travel light engine to Petone and back under their own steam, subject to the same speed restrictions.

In 1887 they were permitted to be operated between Cross Creek and Pigeon Bush, later extended to Featherston to enable them to be used for banking purposes.

They were named after historic Maori canoes: Maahunui, Mahuhu, Mamari, Matahourua, Mataatua, Arai-te-Uru and Arawa.

Several options for an alternative to the Incline were considered in the 20th century, but it was not until after WWII that a route through a tunnel between Maymorn and Lucena's Creek was selected.

[2] Demolition was swift, with the removal of track between Cross Creek and Pigeon Bush largely completed by March 1956.

The official opening of a rail trail using the formation of the original railway line from Cross Creek to Kaitoke followed in 1987.

[4] It is today one of the more popular recreational facilities in the region and forms part of the Remutaka Forest Park.

On 8 August 2003 the trust was inaugurated with the intention of reinstating the line in four stages: Upper Hutt to Summit; Wellington to Upper Hutt (using KiwiRail's Wairarapa Line); Summit to Cross Creek; Cross Creek to Featherston.

Work on the project is currently at stage one, with the acquisition of rolling stock for restoration, fencing, track laying in the yard, and the construction of a rail vehicle shed.