Taringamotu railway station
Taringamotu railway station | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | New Zealand | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 38°51′15″S 175°14′15″E / 38.85428°S 175.237513°E | ||||||||||
Elevation | 173 m (568 ft) | ||||||||||
Owned by | KiwiRail | ||||||||||
Line(s) | North Island Main Trunk | ||||||||||
Distance | Wellington 402.49 km (250.10 mi) | ||||||||||
Tracks | single | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 1 December 1903 | ||||||||||
Closed | 16 April 1972 passengers 9 March 1987 goods | ||||||||||
Electrified | 25 kV 50 Hz AC June 1988 | ||||||||||
Previous names | Taringamutu until 7 August 1913 | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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Taringamotu railway station was a station at Taringamotu on the North Island Main Trunk, in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region.[1]
Goods traffic was reported to have started by November 1902.[2] A station master was appointed in 1911.[3] In 1920 he was working over 12 hours a day.[4] In 1924 it was a 6th grade post.[5] The stationmaster was withdrawn from 26 June 1926.[6] Reports mention a caretaker being at the station in 1948 and 1951.[6]
The name was changed from Taringamutu to Taringamotu after Alexander Young had described it as an error in Parliament in 1913.[7]
In 1908 additions were made to the station buildings and a station house was built. By 1911 there was a shelter shed, platform, loading bank and a passing loop for 36 wagons.[8] Electric lighting came in about 1936.[9]
Timber was the main traffic, transferring from the Taringamotu Tramway, but the station also handled other goods, such as 122 tons of fertilisers in 1926.[10] Taringamotu Totara Sawmills' private siding was 1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km) south of the station.[8]
In 1939 the line between Taumarunui and Taringamotu became the first in the country to get CTC, meaning that Taringamotu closed as a tablet station.[11]
Passenger numbers rose rapidly until 1916, as shown in the table and graph below –
Taringamotu closed to all traffic from 16 April 1972. In 1974 the crossing loop was extended.[12] The loop was closed on 9 March 1987.[13]
There is now just a single track and a 2-span girder bridge over the Ongarue River.[14]
Incidents
[edit]The line wasn't fenced until 1909. In October 1905 a letter from 22 Māori farmers between Taumarunui and Taringamotu complained of the agreement to do so being broken, saying, "Fifteen horses have been killed, eight cows, and five pigs".[15]
In 1915 the Ongarue River undermined a bank and two engines and a van, which had been moving very slowly, were overturned. One fireman had a minor hand,[16] or head, injury.[17]
Two goods trains crashed in 1943, with slight injuries to drivers and firemen.[18]
Floods and slips closed the line nearby on several occasions.[19][20] In 2015 the wooden bridge over the Ongarue River was replaced in concrete and mass stabilisation was applied to the nearby embankment.[21]
References
[edit]- ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0-900609-92-3.
- ^ "NORTH TRUNK RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 November 1902. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2 December 1911. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "RAILWAY BOARD. DOMINION". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 February 1920. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "MEMBERS OF THE RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 April 1924. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. 2012.
- ^ Parliament, New Zealand (1913). Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives. p. 457.
- ^ a b "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. 2012.
- ^ "NEW TIME-TABLE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 25 January 1936. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "ARTIFICIAL MANURE. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 November 1929. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT (BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, HON. D. G. SULLIVAN)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1939. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
- ^ "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. 2012.
- ^ Scoble, Juliet (2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
- ^ "69 Te Araroa Trail". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
- ^ "Te Mana WhaTuahuru Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims Parts I and II Wai 898" (PDF). WAITANGI TRIBUNAL. 2018.
- ^ "MAIN TRUNK LINE. Embankment gives way. PRESS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 July 1915. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "RAILWAY ACCIDENT. MANAWATU TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 July 1915. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "TRAINS COLLIDE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 December 1943. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "SLIPS ON THE RAILWAY. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1925. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "NORTH ISLAND FLOODS. OTAGO DAILY TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 March 1933. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- ^ "KiwiRail upgrade '007' licenced to thrill – Contractor Magazine". Retrieved 19 March 2020.