Horotiu railway station

Horotiu railway station
1959 view from north-west
General information
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates37°42′06″S 175°11′38″E / 37.701573°S 175.193802°E / -37.701573; 175.193802
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
History
Opened19 December 1877
Closed1975[1]
Previous namesPukete

Horotiu railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand serving Horotiu.[2][3]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Ngaruawahia
Line open, station closed 		  North Island Main Trunk
New Zealand Railways Department 		  Te Rapa
Line open, station closed
1959 view from north AFFCO siding to bottom left

It was a 'flag station', originally 3 mi (4.8 km) north of Te Rapa and 4 mi (6.4 km) south of Ngāruawāhia and named Pukete.[4] The station was moved just over a mile to the north in 1880, to be 76 mi (122 km) from Auckland.[5] It seems no explanation was given[6] for the controversial move.[7] The station changed its name from Pukete to Horotiu on 23 June 1907.[8]

Traffic remained light, amounting to £49 in 1901.[9] It was converted to a switch-out station in 1909,[10] equipped with distant signals in 1916,[11] when the AFFCO sidings opened,[12] and had other alterations to signalling and interlocking in 1934,[13] with extension of automatic signalling from Mercer to Frankton.[14] In 1930 Frankton to Horotiu (6 mi 55 ch (10.8 km)) was double tracked, with automatic signalling also extended 34 mi 72 ch (56.2 km) to Mercer. Horotiu's power interlocking was the first automatic operation of main line points in the country, replacing home and distant signals, Wood's locks[15] (a single key for signal and facing points, named after S P Woods of McKenzie and Holland)[16] and the tablet station.[15] The 3 mi 54 ch (5.9 km) north to Ngāruawāhia was double track from 5 December 1937.[17]

  1. ^ "Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  2. ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0 900609 92 3.
  3. ^ Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: A.H&A.W Reed. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0589013165.
  4. ^ "Page 3 Advertisements Column 4 (New Zealand Herald, 1879-04-03)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  5. ^ "Parliamentary Papers | Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives | 1880 Session I – Public Works Statement, by the Minister for Public Works, The Hon. Richard Oliver, Friday, 6 August 1880". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  6. ^ "RAILWAY MISMANAGEMENT. (New Zealand Herald, 1882-05-16)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  7. ^ "THE PUKETE RAILWAY STATION. (Waikato Times, 1878-09-24)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  8. ^ Scoble, Juliet (2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand 1863 to 2010" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  9. ^ "GOODS SHED AT PUKETE RAILWAY STATION. (Waikato Argus, 1901-08-02)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Parliamentary Papers | Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives | 1909 Session II – Block Working". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  11. ^ "Parliamentary Papers | Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives | 1916 Session I – Fixed Signals at Officered Stations". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  12. ^ "DISTRICT NEWS (Waikato Times, 1917-03-28)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Parliamentary Papers | Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives | 1934 Session I – Signalling". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  14. ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE RIGHT HON. J. G. COATES. (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1928-01-01)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  15. ^ a b "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. A. VEITCH. (Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1930-01-01)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
  16. ^ "Woods Keys". www.valleysignals.org.nz. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  17. ^ "Parliamentary Papers | Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives | 1938 Session I – RAILWAYS STATEMENT (BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, HON. D. G. SULLIVAN)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 16 June 2017.