Puketutu railway station | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | New Zealand | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 38°25′54″S175°13′45″E / 38.43175°S 175.22917°E | ||||||||||
Elevation | 206 m (676 ft) | ||||||||||
Line(s) | North Island Main Trunk | ||||||||||
Distance | Wellington 461.83 km (286.97 mi) | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 8 May 1889 | ||||||||||
Closed | 23 October 1977 | ||||||||||
Electrified | June 1988 | ||||||||||
Previous names | Mokau until 11 May 1903 | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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Puketutu was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, [2] in the Waitomo District of New Zealand.
Initial doubt about the route of the line to the south was resolved by a survey in 1884. It was then said that the bush might provide timber traffic for the railway for 50 years, until it was all converted to farm land. [3] Works were advanced enough for a ministerial party to ride the route to the south on horseback by 1890. [4] Most of the construction was done by cooperatives. [5]
The Public Works Department contracted the Te Kuiti to Mokau Station section on 9 March 1887 and it opened just over 2 years later. Construction began on the section south to Poro-O-Tarao tunnel in September 1892. [6] However, for 12 years, from 1889 until the line to Poro-O-Tarao opened on 1 April 1901, Puketutu was the terminus of the line, [7] though, from 18 January 1897, a weekly goods train ran to Poro-O-Tarao. [8] The delay was partly due to poor access and rugged country, but 2 years of the delay were due to economic recession, little work being done from 1890 to 1892. [6]
The name was changed from Mokau to Puketutu on 11 May 1903. [9]
Lack of fencing to the south was an issue when the line opened, with many cattle killed and trains delayed. [10] Although plans for fencing were made in 1885, before the land was bought, it wasn't until 1907 that fencing started and 1909 before it was finished. [7]
By 1911 there was a shelter shed, platform, loading bank, fixed signals and passing loop for 55 wagons, extended to 75 wagons by 1980. In 1915 a Post Office started, run by station staff from 1941 to 1955 and then by a ganger until it closed on 10 December 1966. In 1926 a 22 ft (6.7 m) x 14 ft (4.3 m) lean-to goods shed (22 feet by 14 feet) was approved. [11] A cattle yard was added in 1924. [12] A railway house was added in 1938. [13]
A 21 mi (34 km) branch line [14] down the Mokau valley to Piopio and Aria was surveyed, but rejected in a ballot (under the 1914 Local Railways Act) in 1922. [15] A 10 mi (16 km) extension south to a coal seam at Waitewhena was also considered. [16] From 1933 that mine was served via Ohura on the Stratford–Okahukura Line. [17]
The line approaching the station was eased when it was electrified. [7]
Ōhau railway station was a station at Ōhau on the North Island Main Trunk in the Horowhenua District of New Zealand. It closed on 2 November 1987, though most services had stopped in 1971. Only a 1989 equipment building and a passing loop remain.
Te Kawa railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, located at Te Kawa.
Te Mawhai railway station was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. Its primary traffic was supplies to the nearby Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital was situated to be convenient for freight and passengers by rail and a light railway connection to the hospital was considered.
Ōhaupō railway station was a station located at Ōhaupō on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. It was the terminus of the line from Auckland from 1878 to 1880 and closed in 1982. Only a passing loop remains.
Taumarunui railway station is the main railway station in Taumarunui, New Zealand, serving the Northern Explorer service between Auckland and Wellington. Historically, it was an important intermediate stop with a refreshment room on the North Island Main Trunk line; the subject of the ballad "Taumarunui on the Main Trunk Line" by Peter Cape.
Te Kuiti railway station is a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. The station was important in the growth of Te Kūiti.
Tuakau railway station was a railway station in the town of Tuakau in the Waikato District of New Zealand.
Waiteti was a passing loop on the North Island Main Trunk railway (NIMT) in New Zealand, built in 1939 to relieve congestion along a single track block, where the line rises steeply from Te Kuiti on a 1 in 70 gradient for 7 mi (11 km), including curves of 8 ch (160 m) to 20 ch (400 m) radius. It was 470.07 km (292.09 mi) from Wellington. From its opening it was under central control from Te Kuiti signalbox. The loop could hold 100 4-wheeled wagons.
Taringamotu railway station was a station at Taringamotu on the North Island Main Trunk, in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region.
Okahukura railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.
Poro-O-Tarao was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waitomo District of New Zealand. Between the watersheds of the upper Mōkau and Whanganui rivers, the NIMT enters Poro-O-Tarao tunnel under Tihikārearea hill, before descending the Ōngarue valley. It was 9.68 km (6.01 mi) north of Waimiha and 5.89 km (3.66 mi) south of Mangapehi.
Mangapehi was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waitomo District of New Zealand. It was 5.89 km (3.66 mi) north of Poro-O-Tarao and 5.15 km (3.20 mi) south of Kopaki.
Kopaki was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waitomo District of New Zealand.
Manunui station was on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand, serving Manunui. It was 2.9 km (1.8 mi) south east of Matapuna and 4.63 km (2.88 mi) north of Piriaka. Freight was handled from 2 September 1904, though it wasn't until 16 September 1908 that it was listed as having a station yard, formation and fencing and 10 November 1908, when it was described as a 6th class station, with passenger platform, urinals, cart approach, a 30 ft (9.1 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed and loading bank. On 24 July 1913 a request for lighting was added. A passing loop originally provided for trains of up to 26 wagons, but was extended to 100 in 1970 and 123 in 1980. By then Caltex had a siding for 11 wagons and a fertiliser store for 15.
Piriaka was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand, serving Piriaka. It was 5.27 km (3.27 mi) north of Kakahi and 4.63 km (2.88 mi) south of Manunui. It formally opened on 9 November 1908, though it was renamed from Pirihaka on 25 April 1902 and work was well advanced by 1903, with the rails laid south of Piriaka by May 1904. Goods traffic started on 11 October 1904. By 10 November 1908 a passing loop could take 48 wagons and there was a 6th class station, with water supply, privies and urinals, a 300 ft (91 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) passenger platform, loading bank, cattle yards and a 30 ft (9.1 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed.
Kakahi was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand, serving Kakahi. It formally opened on 9 November 1908. The rails were laid south of Piriaka by May 1904 and a daily ballast train was running by October, which also carried passengers. Kakahi Bridge has five spans of 44 ft (13 m) and one of 23 ft (7.0 m) supplied by G. Fraser & Sons of Auckland, which delayed construction to the south. It crosses the Kakahi Stream, which was sometimes called the Waitea River.
Oio was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It served the hamlet of Oio, which lay to the north of the station. It was 8.29 km (5.15 mi) north of Raurimu and 5.64 km (3.50 mi) south of Ōwhango. It was one of the many temporary railheads along the route, with work going on from 1904 to 1908.
Mataroa was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It served the village of Mataroa. Mataroa is part way up a long gradient from Taihape to Waiouru, beginning at 1 in 60, but largely 1 in 70 from Mataroa to Hīhītahi, so that Mataroa is 88 m (289 ft) above Taihape and 110 m (360 ft) below Ngaurukehu.
Ngaurukehu, Ngarukehu, or Ngaurakehu, was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It is in the Hautapu River valley. It was 9.64 km (5.99 mi) north of Mataroa, 3.91 km (2.43 mi) south of Turangarere. Ngaurukehu is part way up a 1 in 70 gradient from Mataroa to Hīhītahi, so that it is 110 m (360 ft) above Mataroa and 62 m (203 ft) below Turangarere. It now has three passing loops.
Tangiwai was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. The station served the settlement of Tangiwai. The nearby pulp and saw mills are now one of the main sources of freight on NIMT. In 1953 the Tangiwai disaster occurred when the nearby bridge over the Whangaehu River was swept away.