Kaitoke railway station was a single-platform rural railway station on the

Wairarapa Line The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for , connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt ...

between

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

and

Featherston Featherston is a surname of English origin, at least as old as the 12th century. The link with "Featherstone" is probably not traceable, but people researching both spellings (and others such as "de Fetherestanhalgh") contribute to the collection o ...

in the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

region of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's North Island. Initially it was the railhead of the Wairarapa Line, at a point where the railway met the main road between Upper Hutt and the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

. Later it was a point at which locomotives were changed, steam engines were watered, trains could cross, and passengers could make use of the refreshment room. The station was closed along with the old route via the

Rimutaka Incline The Rimutaka Incline was a , gauge railway line on an average grade of 1-in-15 using the Fell system between Summit and Cross Creek stations on the Wairarapa side of the original Wairarapa Line in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The t ...

on which the Fell system was used over the

Rimutaka Ranges The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east ...

when the Rimutaka Deviation opened in 1955.

History

The Mungaroa Contract for the construction of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and the Pakuratahi Valley included a station near the terminus of the contract, originally called Pakuratahi Station. The contractor for this section was Charles McKirdy, who was to have completed the contract between 3 June 1874 and 3 March 1876 but, as was common with contracts for the construction of the Wairarapa Line, work was not completed on time. Having run out of money with two months of work left to complete, the contract was picked up by McKirdy's guarantors, Walter Turnbull and John McKenzie. They applied for and received further funds to continue the work, which was completed on 16 December 1877. When work was nearing completion, the Government called for tenders to erect a fourth-class station building and stationmaster's house. The contract was let to W. H. Ridler for the sum of £1,778. This contract also possibly included the erection of the goods shed on a siding 12 chains (240 metres) to the north of the station (the goods shed was demolished in 1882). A separate contract for the sum of £1,514 was let to Messrs. Fraser and Lyon for the construction of an access road to the station and the levelling of the site for the station and house. By early December 1877, the Public Works Department had advanced platelaying as far as Pakuratahi Station, by this time renamed Kaitoki, later (probably in the 1880s) to become Kaitoke. As Kaitoke was expected to be the railhead for two years, there was some consternation over the siting of the station, with complaints particularly from the Wairarapa that the site was unsuitable for the trans-shipment of goods between road and rail. The Government stood firm and the station stayed where it was intended to be. The line to Kaitoke Station was officially opened on 28 December 1877 by the Governor, the Marquis of Normanby. A special train was run from Wellington to Kaitoke for the occasion under the supervision of District Engineer Mr. Hales and General Manager Mr. Stone. After speeches and an inspection of the station, by which time had had a refreshments room added, the Governor and party boarded the train again to return to Wellington. Over the next few days, excursion trains were run from Wellington to Kaitoke to satiate the curiosity of those who had heard of the fearsome reputation the line had gained during its construction.On 1 January 1878 the line to Kaitoke was opened to the public, becoming the railhead for the Wairarapa for nearly ten months. Kaitoke Station proceeded to enter the busiest phase of its existence as the railhead of the Wairarapa Line, which lasted only until the opening of the line as far as

on 16 October 1878, after which it was of minor significance. Initially, two daily mixed trains were timed to connect with road coaches from the Wairarapa. There was a limited amount of flat land available, so the station retained its original configuration of the main line plus one crossing loop throughout its life. There was also a locomotive siding to the south of the station until the practice of changing locomotives ceased, at which time the siding was lifted. The refreshment rooms were extended in 1896, and, except for the addition of the signal box in 1902, the station buildings remained the same until the refreshment rooms were closed about 1952. In 1883 the station handled 759 outbound passengers, a level of patronage that remained steady for many years. Traffic increased steadily right from the start, with average goods tonnage at around the same time of 457 tons inward and 1,978 outward. The growth in business led to the introduction of a third mixed train a month after the station opened. The Working Timetable of 1887 lists Kaitoke as one of the first stations on the section to receive signals. Instructions for crossing trains required down (southbound) trains to take the siding or loop and up (northbound) trains to take the main line. Soon after the installation of the first full mechanical interlocking system at Lambton Station in Wellington, a smaller system was installed at Kaitoke. A signal box was built at the south end of the platform, and two arm bracket signals for both "home" and "starting" were provided for trains travelling in both directions. Later, up and down "distant" signals were added. Balanced arm semaphore signals replaced the earlier slotted-post design. With the completion of the Rimutaka Deviation, Kaitoke station was closed on 30 October 1955 along with the rest of the old line over the

, followed by the opening of the new line on 3 November. Kaitoke railway station 02

Today

Station Drive, the access road to the former station off State Highway 2, still exists and provides access to several private dwellings that have been constructed on the terrace that was cut into the hillside to form the station yard. The terrace can easily be seen from the old State Highway where it intersects with the new State Highway, and there is public access up to the south end of the former station yard via the old railway line, a public walking/cycling track between Kaitoke and

Mangaroa Mangaroa is a rural settlement just outside of Upper Hutt, situated in the lower North Island of New Zealand. It includes lifestyle blocks and farms surrounded by hills, which are usually covered by a dusting of snow during the winter. The for ...

Future

The 'Rimutaka Incline Railway', the project of the

Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust The Rimutaka Incline Railway Heritage Trust is a non-profit, charitable trust in New Zealand that was established in 2003 with the objective of reinstating an operating heritage railway over the Remutaka Ranges using the original route of the Wa ...

, aims to re-establish a railway line on the former Wairarapa Line formation between Maymorn and Featherston. This includes new track past Kaitoke, utilising an easement created by

Transit New Zealand Transit New Zealand (Māori: Ararau Aotearoa), which existed from 1989 to 2008, was the New Zealand Crown entity responsible for operating and planning the New Zealand state highway network (10,894 km, about 12% of New Zealand's roads). It ...

when they built the State Highway 2 deviation through Kaitoke. The trust does not propose to acquire former railway formation now in private ownership at Kaitoke, or establish a new station at or near the original Kaitoke Station for its own operations.Rimutaka Incline Railway.
Stage 1 - Upper Hutt to Summit
.

References

Footnotes

External links