Te Kawa railway station

Te Kawa railway station
Te Kawa railway station in 1934
General information
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates38°05′35″S 175°17′01″E / 38.093093°S 175.283518°E / -38.093093; 175.283518
Elevation48 m (157 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 506.88 km (314.96 mi)
History
Opened9 March 1887
Closed17 October 1971[1]
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Previous namesKawa until 13 September 1913
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Te Mawhai
Line open, station closed
5.98 km (3.72 mi) 		  North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail 		  Kiokio
Line open, station closed
8.02 km (4.98 mi)

1955 one inch to one mile map (Source- Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) and licensed by LINZ for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence)
Te Kawa station site in 2023

Te Kawa railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand,[2][3] located at Te Kawa.

The railway crossed 5,000 acres (2,000 ha)[4] (or 8,000) Te Kawa Swamp[5] to the north of the station on a 60 chains (4,000 ft; 1,200 m) embankment. Culverts were included to maintain the effectiveness of eel weirs in the swamp[6] and provide for the flow of water.[7] A post office was open by 1909 and a drainage board set up,[8] which was extended in 1915, by which time the station was handling traffic for Waikeria Prison.[9]

In 1908 the station was being considered as a junction for a line to Kawhia and Raglan[10] and by 1920 as a junction on a railway from Kawhia to Rotorua.[11] On 14 September 1913 the name of the station was changed from Kawa to Te Kawa. In 1917 a telephone was reported as connected,[12] though another report put the date as 1929.[13] By 1980 there was a passing loop for 123 wagons.[12]

The line to the south of Te Kawa falls on a 1 in 183 gradient.[14] There was a private siding for grain at the station in the 1970s and 80s.[15]

The station site was sold in 2000.[6]

  1. ^ Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand
  2. ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
  3. ^ Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: A.H&A.W Reed. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0589013165.
  4. ^ "Cadastral map of the Te Kawa Swamp". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  5. ^ "The Kawa Swamp, NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 January 1908. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  6. ^ a b Philip Cleaver, ]onathan Sarich (November 2009). "Turongo: The North Island Main Trunk Railway and the Rohe Potae, 1870–2008" (PDF). Waitangi Tribunal.
  7. ^ "THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 29 January 1887. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  8. ^ "RECLAIMING THE SWAMPS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 September 1909. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Te Kawa deputations, WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 February 1915. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  10. ^ "RAILWAY FOR RAGLAN, WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 August 1908. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  11. ^ "RAIL TO KAWHIA. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 November 1920. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  12. ^ a b Scoble, Juliet. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  13. ^ "TE KAWA. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 June 1929. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  14. ^ "Express freight train 234, derailment, Te Kawa, 2 March 2001" (PDF). TAIC.
  15. ^ "Te Kawa Private Siding – Te Kawa Grain Driers Ltd". archway.archives.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 May 2019.