Taonui 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 ser ...

and in the

Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatū-Whanganui (; spelled Manawatu-Wanganui prior to 2019) is a region in the lower half of the North Island of New Zealand, whose main population centres are the cities of Palmerston North and Whanganui. It is administered by the Manawat ...

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 ...

. From 1879 to 1886 it was the junction for the

Taonui Branch The Taonui Branch was a minor branch line railway in New Zealand's national network. Located in the Manawatū District of the North Island, it opened in 1879 and operated until 1895. Construction In the late 1870s, sleepers were needed for th ...

. 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. It opened in 1876 and closed in 1959.

Te Araroa Te Araroa (The Long Pathway) is New Zealand's long distance tramping route, stretching circa along the length of the country's two main islands from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Officially opened in 2011, it is made up of a mixture of previously made ...

long-distance walkway passes the station site.

Feilding Aerodrome Feilding Aerodrome (ICAO: NZFI) is a small airport located three nautical miles (5.6 km) southeast of Feilding, a town in the Manawatu District in the North Island of New Zealand. Operational Information *Runway Strength - ESWL 1020 * ...

is to the northeast of the station and Taonui School to the southwest.

History

By July 1876 the rails were in place, linking Palmerston North and Feilding, and ballasting was finished in September. The formal opening of the railway was on 19 October 1876. It wasn't until 12 April 1879 that authority was requested for a platform at Taonui, though Bailey's Mill was mentioned as being at Taonui Siding on 13 May 1879. The station probably opened when the Taonui Branch was ready for opening on 20 November 1879. Initially passengers had to wait at Taonui if the locomotive had to collect freight from the branch. That ended some time after 31 March 1880, when horses took over on the branch. The branch closed in 1895. Taonui was 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 1882 and it first appeared in a timetable in 1883, but there was a request for Taonui to become a regular stop for passengers in 1888. By 1896 it had a shelter shed, passenger platform, cart approach, loading bank, cattle yards and a passing loop for 68 wagons. The railway was cut through thick bush, which was then cut by several sawmills, including that of Bailey Brothers, who had a private siding from 1878 until 1894. After that timber traffic ended, the railway began to carry livestock from the new farms. In 1937 Aorangi and Taonui sent 30,255 sheep and pigs by train.

Closure

A report on 19 June 1959 said there was a shelter shed, platform and sheep yards, but no passenger, parcels, or small lots goods traffic, and only 6 wagons of sheep in the last year. The station closed to all traffic on 10 August 1959, though another notice said it closed on 14 April 1963. After closure the shelter shed was moved to a nearby farmer's paddock. A few decades later, the farmer donated it to the

Feilding and District Steam Rail Society The Feilding and District Steam Rail Society, also known as Feilding Steam Rail, is a railway preservation society located in Feilding in the Manawatu region of New Zealand. The society has restored or is restoring a number of locomotives and wa ...

, who restored it to be part of the its depot in Feilding. The restoration work gained a Certificate of Merit from the

Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand The Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand is a charitable trust established in October 1991. At the time the New Zealand Railways Corporation was being split into New Zealand Rail Limited, which would own all the rail, ferry and network operations of ...

in 2002.

Trondjiem

About towards Bunnythorpe, Richter Nannestead & Co had a siding at Trondjiem from 1878 to 1888. Another further on McChesney & Beard had a siding from 1878 to 1885, when it was proposed to close Trondjiem flag station, though it was noted the next year that trains would stop at Trondjiem for goods traffic only. McChesney & Beard's Bunnythorpe Steam Sawmill and short tramway were offered for sale in 1879.

References

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External links

Photos -
Adsett sawmill in 1880s, showing extent of surrounding bush

Bailey's sawmill in 1890

Taonui sawmill
Railway stations opened in 1879 Railway stations closed in 1959 Defunct railway stations in New Zealand Rail transport in Manawatū-Whanganui Buildings and structures in Manawatū-Whanganui Manawatu District