Waimahaka is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. [1] It is situated in a rural area, inland from Toetoes Bay. Nearby settlements include Pine Bush and Titiroa to the northwest, Fortification and Te Peka to the east, Pukewao and Tokanui to the southwest, and Fortrose on the coast to the south.
On 9 June 1899, [2] a 6 mi 61 ch (10.9 km) [3] extension of the Seaward Bush Branch was opened from Gorge Road to Waimahaka. [4] This branch line railway linked Waimahaka with Invercargill, 25 mi 47 ch (41.2 km) away. [3] A 60 ft (18 m) engine shed, 50 ft (15 m) locomotive turntable, coal store, 40 ft (12 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed, 5th class station, stationmaster's house, platform, loading bank, cattle yards, privies, urinals and 3 platelayers' cottages were established at the Waimahaka station. Another cottage was added in 1908 and a telephone in 1909. [3] The opening of the railway allowed Waimahaka to develop at the expense of Fortrose, as the railway provided quicker transport to Invercargill than the vessels that called at Fortrose's small port. [5] On 20 December 1911, the railway was extended to Tokanui and Waimahaka's engine facilities were transferred there. [6]
Passengers and freight were carried together on mixed trains that ran daily to and from Invercargill. In 1951, these were cut to operate just once per week, mainly for the benefit of families employed by the Railways Department who lived in the area; goods-only trains operated on other days. On 1 June 1960, passenger services were fully cancelled and trains through Waimahaka catered solely for freight until the line officially closed on 31 March 1966 as freight levels had not been profitable for years. The loading bank [6] and station platform remain identifiable, [7] and the goods shed has been refurbished for other uses. [8] [9] Some of the line's old formation can still be seen in the vicinity of Waimahaka. [6]
There was a Post Office at the station from 1902 to 1953 and a new Post Office and telephone exchange building opened on 15 September 1966, after closure of the station on Sunday, 31 July 1966. [3] The Post Office was among many closed by Richard Prebble in 1987. [10]
Waimahaka School operated from 1901 to 2012. [12] The school began with more than 25 students, a teachers' residence was built in 1908, and a second classroom, play shed, washhouse, bathroom and stoves were added in 1920. The site was remodelled in the 1950s. The school moved to a new larger site to accommodate a larger post-war roll in 196, with a new teachers' residence being added in 1968. [13] By 2006, the school had 16 students and featured netball fields, a rugby field, a covered swimming pool heated with solar panels, and a computer for every child. [14] The school roll had dropped to four students by its final year of teaching in 2012. [12]
Fortrose is a locality on the southernmost coast of the South Island of New Zealand in the Southland region. It is situated on Toetoes Bay at the mouth of the Mataura River, and is on the far western edge of the Catlins. Nearby settlements include Otara to the southeast, Pukewao and Tokanui to the northeast, and Titiroa and Waimahaka to the north.
The Tokanui Branch, also known as the Seaward Bush Branch, was a branch line railway located in Southland, New Zealand. It diverged from the Bluff Branch south of the main railway station in Invercargill and ran for 54 kilometres in a southeasterly direction. Construction began in 1883 and it operated until 1966.
Tokanui is a community in the eastern portion of Southland District Council, located on the Southern Scenic Route about 56 km (35 mi) east of Invercargill and 107 km (66 mi) southwest of Balclutha, New Zealand. The Tokanui River runs just to the north of the village and occasionally floods the lower parts, as it did when the railway yard flooded in 1935.
Ōtāne is a town in the Central Hawke's Bay District and the Hawke's Bay region, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The small village, has a school, general store, cafe and pub, and is located just off State Highway 2.
Pukewao is a locality in the southeastern corner of the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located inland from Toetoes Bay in the very western part of the Catlins, and nearby settlements include Tokanui to the southeast, Fortrose on the coast to the southwest, and Te Peka and Waimahaka to the northwest.
Te Peka is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated on the western edge of the Catlins region, with Waimahaka to the west, Fortrose to the southwest, and Pukewao and Tokanui to the southeast.
Fortification is a locality in the western part of the Catlins region of Southland in New Zealand's South Island. Nearby settlements include Quarry Hills and Waikawa to the southeast, Tokanui to the southwest, and Waimahaka to the west. It is over 50 km east of Southland's main centre, Invercargill.
Titiroa is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is on the eastern bank of the lower Mataura River, inland from Toetoes Bay. Pine Bush is nearby to the northeast, and Waimahaka is to the southeast.
Gorge Road is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is on the Southern Scenic Route and is situated on the western bank of the Mataura River. Nearby settlements include Ashers to the west, and across the Mataura, Pine Bush and Titiroa to the east.
Pine Bush is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island.
Ashers is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated east of Invercargill on the Southern Scenic Route as it runs between Kapuka and Gorge Road. Other nearby settlements include Oteramika to the north and Kapuka South to the south. Also south is the Waituna Lagoon and Toetoes Bay.
Kapuka is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated between Mokotua to the west and Ashers to the east on the Southern Scenic Route; Oteramika is to the north, and Kapuka South, Waituna Lagoon, and Toetoes Bay are to the south.
Mokotua is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated in a rural area east of Invercargill, between Timpanys and Kapuka on the Southern Scenic Route. To the south are Toetoes Bay and Waituna Lagoon; Rimu is to the north.
Timpanys is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated in a rural area east of Invercargill and is on the Southern Scenic Route between Waimatua and Mokotua. Rimu is to the north and Waituna Lagoon and Tiwai Point are to the south.
Utiku railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, and in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It opened in 1904 and closed in 1986. It was part of the 13+1⁄2 mi (21.7 km) Mangaweka to Taihape section, officially opened by the Prime Minister, Richard Seddon, on 21 November 1904. It closed in 1986. A passing loop remains.
Lichfield is a rural settlement in the South Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.
Ormondville is a locality in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located inland, south of Waipukurau and west of Flemington, Hawke's Bay.
Kiwitahi is a rural community in the Matamata-Piako District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, located directly south of Morrinsville.
Makotuku is a locality in the Manawatu-Whanganui Region of New Zealand's North Island, about 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi) west of Ormondville.