Te Mawhai railway station | |||||||||||
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 Te Mawhai in 1949 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | New Zealand | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 38°02′41″S175°18′19″E / 38.044847°S 175.305405°E | ||||||||||
| Elevation | 36 m (118 ft) | ||||||||||
| Line | North Island Main Trunk | ||||||||||
| Distance | Wellington 512.86 km (318.68 mi) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 9 March 1887 | ||||||||||
| Closed | 12 May 1962 | ||||||||||
| Electrified | June 1988 | ||||||||||
| Previous names | Te Puhi to 10 December 1912 [1] | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Te Mawhai railway station was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand. [2] [3] Its primary traffic was supplies to the nearby Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital.[ citation needed ] The hospital was situated to be convenient for freight and passengers by rail and a light railway connection to the hospital was considered. [4]
Surveying to extend the railway from Te Awamutu to Ōtorohanga was started in 1883 by Charles Wilson Hursthouse. [5] The first sod ceremony was performed at the Puniu River on 15 April 1885. [6] Trains were working through to Ōtorohanga by January 1887, [7] but the line wasn't handed over from the Public Works Department to the Railways Department until March 1887. [8] Initially trains only ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays. [9]
By 1896 there was a shelter shed, platform, cart approach and a passing loop for 27 wagons, extended to 38 by 1911. [10]
In 1912 a meeting asked for a loading bank, cattle yards, caretaker and goods shed and to change the name from Te Puhi to the same as the post office, Te Mawhai. [11] The name was changed, [12] a goods shed was added in 1915 [13] and improved in 1916, [14] telephone came in 1921, [10] urinals were added in 1922, [15] £895 was spent on improving stock loading in 1929 [10] and electric light came in 1933. [16]
