Piako was 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, s ...

, at the junction of SH26 and Horrell Rd, on the former

Thames Branch The Thames Branch railway line connected Thames, New Zealand, with Hamilton and was originally part of the East Coast Main Trunk railway. Part of the line between Morrinsville and Waitoa remains open and is in use as the Waitoa Branch line, ...

, east of

Morrinsville Morrinsville is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, with an estimated population of as of The town is located at the northern base of the Pakaroa Range, and on the south-western fringe of the Hauraki Plains. ...

and west of Tatuanui. The area was owned in succession by politicians: *

Thomas Gillies Thomas Bannatyne Gillies (17 January 1828 – 26 July 1889) was a 19th-century New Zealand lawyer, judge and politician. Early life He was born at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, on 17 January 1828. He was the eldest of nine children o ...

* William Murray, who built nearby Annandale House about 1881 and planned a township, hoping the

Kinleith Branch The Kinleith Branch railway line is located in the Waikato region of New Zealand. The line was constructed by the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company, Taupo Totara Timber Company and rebuilt by the Public Works Department primarily to ser ...

junction would be here, rather than Morrinsville *

William Shepherd Allen William Shepherd Allen (22 June 1831 – 15 January 1915) was an English Liberal politician. He also worked as a farmer and served as an MP in New Zealand. Biography Allen was born at Manchester, the son of William Allen and his wife Maria Shep ...

who built sheep pens and a loading race in May 1890 and stockyards in 1898. The Allen family owned the farm from 1887 to 1920 and still owns Annandale House, which has been a Category 1 listed building since 1989. Work was continuing when the branch opened to Te Aroha. Murray's had a platform, then a shelter was added in 1887. In December 1912 it was renamed Piako, as had been expected when it opened. It closed to passengers on 22 November 1948. The station building was removed in December 1961 and the stock yards in 1968. The site became Murray Oaks Scenic Reserve in 1975.

References

External links

Photo of Annandale House

1941 aerial photo
{{Matamata-Piako District Defunct railway stations in New Zealand Matamata-Piako District Rail transport in Waikato Morrinsville Buildings and structures in Waikato Railway stations in New Zealand opened in the 1880s