Te Awamutu Railway Station
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Te Awamutu was a temporary terminus, serving the
border town A border town is a town or city close to the boundary between two countries, states, or regions. Usually the term implies that the nearness to the border is one of the things the place is most famous for. With close proximities to a different coun ...
of
Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamilto ...
, 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 ...
(NIMT) in
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 1880, when the line was extended from
Ōhaupō Ōhaupō is a rural community in the Waipa District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on State Highway 3, about halfway between Hamilton and Te Awamutu. The Ōhaupō area and surrounding Ngāhinapōuri, Te Rore a ...
, until 1887, when the line was extended south to
Ōtorohanga Ōtorohanga is a north King Country town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located south of Hamilton and north of Te Kūiti, on the Waipā River. It is a service town for the surrounding dairy-farming district. ...
.


History


Location

It was about from the town centre. A public meeting in 1878 supported a town centre site, but 6 months later, Goodfellow's paddock was chosen. Sir
George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
claimed that the station was so far from the town due to opposition from local residents, though another source described them as, "interested landed proprietors". In 1879 Rangiaohia Road Board asked for £750 to build the link road and footpaths, which were finished in 1880.''''


Construction

The extension from Ōhaupō was built for £25,972 by Daniel Fallon, who also built the
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to
Ngāruawāhia Ngāruawāhia () is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton Ur ...
section of the NIMT. Work started in 1878. On Wednesday, 19 May 1880 a test train, of two engines and 29 wagons of stone, reached Te Awamutu.'''' The line was opened on Thursday, 1 July 1880, initially with one train a day, after £352 had been spent moving Ōhaupō's engine shed and building cattle pens. In 1881 another £45 was spent to move the engine driver's cottage. Other houses were bought or built in 1885, 1954 and 1955.''''


Extension

Surveying to extend the railway from Te Awamutu to Ōtorohanga was started in 1883 by
Charles Wilson Hursthouse Charles Wilson Hursthouse (26 June 1841 – 25 February 1911), also known by his Māori name Wirihana, was an English-born New Zealand surveyor, public servant, politician, and soldier. He laid out part of the North Island Main Trunk railway thro ...
. The first sod ceremony was performed at the
Puniu River The Puniu River is a river of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. As a tributary of the Waipā River (itself a tributary of the Waikato River), and at a length of , it is one of the longest secondary tributaries in New Zealand. T ...
on 15 April 1885. Trains were working through to Ōtorohanga by January 1887, and the extension opened on 6, or 8 March 1887, though the line wasn't handed over from the
Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
to the Railways Department (NZR) until Wednesday 9 March.''''


Original station

By 1884 Te Awamutu had a 4th class station, platform, cart approach, a x goods shed, loading bank, cattle yards, water service, coal accommodation, engine shed, stationmaster's house, 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 37 wagons (extended to 55 by 1911 and 71 by 1980). A turntable was added in 1901, additions were made to the station in 1908, by 1911 there were sheep yards and fixed signals and in 1921 electric lighting was added.'''' The 1902 edition of ''
The Cyclopedia of New Zealand ''The Cyclopedia of New Zealand: industrial, descriptive, historical, biographical facts, figures, illustrations'' was an encyclopaedia published in New Zealand between 1897 and 1908 by the Cyclopedia Company Ltd. Arthur McKee was one of the orig ...
'' described the station as, "of wood and iron, and contains a public vestibule and waiting room, ladies' waiting room, and general office. It has also a long passenger platform and a convenient goods shed. The stationmaster is assisted by a junior porter and a guard, and two gangers are resident in Te Awamutu."


1958 station

A new x station was opened on 26 November 1958'''' by Mayor Clifton Frank Jacobs. The platform was then long and high. In 1987 there was also a goods shed and shed for a shunting tractor. In 1943 there was a Royal New Zealand Air Force siding and in 1980 Dibble Brothers had a private siding for their fertiliser.''''


Services

Trains calling at Te Awamutu included The Overlander,
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,
Scenic Daylight The ''Scenic Daylight'' was a daytime express train in New Zealand, introduced on 17 December 1960 between Auckland and Wellington along the North Island Main Trunk Railway, replacing the ''Daylight Limited''. The service was steam-hauled initia ...
,
Daylight Limited The Daylight Limited was an express passenger train between Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand along the North Island Main Trunk. It commenced in 1925 and was replaced by the Scenic Daylight in 1963. Introduction After the introduction of ...
,
Northerner Northerner may refer to: * A person from a Northern Region from a State, Province, or Country; For Example: ** Someone from Northern England ** Someone from the Northern United States * Translation of Beifangren "北方人", endonym for someone fro ...
and
Night Limited The ''Night Limited'' was an express passenger train that operated in New Zealand between Wellington and Auckland, utilising the entire length of the North Island Main Trunk. It commenced service on 15 December 1924 and was replaced by the S ...
. The station buildings were demolished in 2001 and replaced by a shelter until the station closed in 2005.
New Zealand Dairy Board The New Zealand Dairy Board (NZDB) was a statutory board in control of the export of all New Zealand dairy products from its formation in 1923 until 2001. It operated through a global network of marketing subsidiaries. In 2001, the Dairy Board wa ...
(now
Fonterra Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational publicly traded dairy co-operative owned by around 9,000 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exce ...
) rebuilt its freight connection about 2000. Since 2005 there has been a large flow from the dairy factory to Crawford St depot in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
. There are still hopes that passenger services may resume. For example, in 2015,
Waipa District Council Waipā District Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera ā-Rohe o Waipa) is the territorial authority for the Waipā District of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two mai ...
said, "it is important to preserve the rail platform facilities and infrastructure in Te Awamutu to enable future passenger rail connections between Te Awamutu and Hamilton". In 2021 it was agreed to remove the shelter due to vandalism.


Patronage

As shown in the table and graph below, passenger numbers peaked in 1921 and again in 1944 -


References

{{Reflist


External links


2010 Google street view of remains of Te Awamutu station

Location on 1:50,000 map

NZ Museums photo
* [http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll?BU=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aucklandcity.govt.nz%2Fdbtw-wpd%2FHeritageImages%2Findex.htm&AC=QBE_QUERY&TN=heritageimages&QF0=ID&NP=2&MR=5&RF=HIORecordSearch&QI0=%3D%22AWNS-19091202-6-5%22 Photo of coaches meeting a train 02 DECEMBER 1909]
Photos of derelict station shortly before demolition

Photo of station in 1966
Defunct railway stations in New Zealand
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
Railway stations opened in 1880 Railway stations closed in 2005 Rail transport in Waikato Buildings and structures in Waikato