Rata railway station was a 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 se ...

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 ...

, between Marton and

Hunterville Hunterville is a small community on State Highway 1, in the Rangitikei district of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located halfway between Taupo and Wellington and has a population (2018 census) of 411, a decrease of 18 people from 2013 ...

, from Marton. There is now just a single track through the station site, a new crossing loop having replaced those at Rata and Porewa from 14 December 1983, to the west of Rata. The realignment of

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

alongside the railway

History

The line was inspected in 1884 and the official opening of the Marton to Hunterville branch (later incorporated into the NIMT) was on Saturday 2 June 1888, when the station was served by two trains a week. By 1894 the branch had two trains a day. Rata had a population of 210 in 1901, which had declined to 170 by 1911. In 1888 and 1889 Bailey Brothers asked for a private siding at Rata station. They had one by 1891, by which time there was another sawmill, both largely cutting

totara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane a ...

. The last sawmill moved north in 1905. Rata had a butter factory in 1904. Floods affected the area in 1913. By 1896 Rata had a shelter shed, passenger platform, cattle yards, water service, urinals and 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 ...

for 19 wagons. Sheep and cattle yards were added in 1898. A cart approach was built and a railway cottage moved from Mangaonoho in 1904. A loading platform was built in 1907 and a shed from Utiku was used for the tablet equipment. The station was enlarged in 1908, a post office provided in 1910 and fixed signals added in 1911. In 1913 a request was made for a goods shed, which was rejected in 1916. Rata was an unattended flag station from 13 August 1978. Removal of the station building was approved in 1979, but it remained in 1980, together with a goods shed and loading bank used by Rangitikei Farm Products. On Sunday, 31 January 1982 Rata closed to all but private siding traffic and to all traffic on 14 December 1983.

was straightened between Silverhope and Rata in 2006, taking some former railway land.

References

External links

Video of freight trains at Rata in 2020
Defunct railway stations in New Zealand Railway stations opened in 1888 1888 establishments in New Zealand Railway stations closed in 1983 1983 disestablishments in New Zealand {{NewZealand-railstation-stub