Maewa railway station was a

tablet Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...

station on the

North Island Main Trunk The North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) is the main railway line in the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city Wellington with the country's largest city, Auckland. The line is long, built to the New Zealand rail gauge of and ser ...

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 ...

. A

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

remains at the station site. In 1987 the loop was measured to be from

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 ...

, though the old station was slightly further north at . Near the former station the Steam Traction Society runs a steam fair for

traction engine A traction engine is a steam engine, steam-powered tractor used to move heavy loads on roads, plough ground or to provide power at a chosen location. The name derives from the Latin ''tractus'', meaning 'drawn', since the prime function of any t ...

s. Another collection of old vehicles is nearby at

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Mews. Also nearby is

Feilding Feilding ( mi, Aorangi) is a town in the Manawatū District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 54, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North. The town is the seat of the Manawatū District Council. Feilding has w ...

Cemetery. The first recorded burial there was in November 1886, though the trustees discussed the neglected state of the cemetery in 1882 and the cemetery predated the railway.

History

Trains started to run on the line when the

– Halcombe Section opened on Monday 22 April 1878. To ease congestion between

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

and Marton, the loop was opened at Maewa in 1914, it being noted on 27 February that a tablet porter was needed. It was not intended for passenger traffic, though described as a

flag station In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

in 1921. From 1933 a goods train stopped at Maewa, carrying Feilding passengers visiting the cemetery. The station closed before 1993. Electric lighting was introduced in 1938, the loop was extended in 1939 and work was done to ease the gradient for trains from Halcombe, though it still didn't stop trains stalling on it.

References

External links

* Videos
2011 freight train at Crossing2014 milk tanker train
Defunct railway stations in New Zealand Feilding Rail transport in Manawatū-Whanganui Railway stations opened in 1914 {{NewZealand-railstation-stub