By: Lizzie Errington23rd Apr 2024 8:46AMDion McKenna supported the suggestion that the men are unblocking the culvert under the embankment with the following comment on the Heritage FB page on 20 April 2024:

"Have seen this photo in a book with the caption the men are there to unblock the culvert going under the embankment."

By: Tracey Kearns7th May 2019 9:42AMThe following comment was left on the Heritage Facebook page on 4 May 2019

Mungo Lloyd "I mountain biked the old Rimutaka Incline a while back and found that the curve that Siberia railway line was sat on has since slipped down into the valley and gone. You have to divert around the slip area but still a great ride / walk"

By: Geoff Hudson5th Feb 2018 11:38PMThe men are probably engaged in unblocking the culvert under the embankment (the photo being of the upstream side of the embankment and there is no culvert in sight). Rubble coming downstream was an issue that required constant attention and over the years the culvert inlet was built up vertically in stages to try and keep it above the accumulating gravel. After the line closed in 1955, maintenance ended, the culvert blocked and the entire embankment and backfill eventually washed away. Crossing the gap today would probably have you at the level these people are at.
An aerial photo taken in 1961 (find it on Retrolens.nz) shows the break down starting on the downhill (left) side of the embankment.
Sources: it'll be somewhere in 'A Line of Railway' by W.N. Cameron.