Rukuhia railway station

Rukuhia railway station
Rukuhia in 1953
General information
LocationRukuhia
New Zealand
Coordinates37°51′49″S 175°16′58″E / 37.863606°S 175.28266°E / -37.863606; 175.28266
Elevation55 m (180 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 533.84 km (331.71 mi)
History
Opened4 June 1878
Closed12 September 1971[1]
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Hamilton
Line open, station closed
8.45 km (5.25 mi) 		  North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail 		  Ōhaupō
Line open, station closed
6.68 km (4.15 mi)
1946 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)
Rukuhia station site in 2023

Rukuhia railway station was a flag station[2] on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand, located in the settlement of Rukuhia.[3][4] It was established during an extension of the railway line in the 1870s.[5][6] The service started with two trains a day.[7]

Opening of the line from Hamilton to Ōhaupō was delayed by subsidence at Rukuhia.[8] A service had been planned from 25 February 1878[9] and the Governor General went over the line on 27 March 1878,[10] but opening was still postponed[11] as large quantities of gravel were poured into a hole.[12] The line finally opened on 4 June 1878.[13] The station was surrounded by peat fires in 1935.[14] A 1943 notice noted that owing to the danger of track subsidence, no engine must be allowed to remain stationary on the siding for any length of time.[15] Tests in 1981 found that the track deformed by about 12mm each time a train went over it, due to the peat swamp.[16]

A road to the station was formed in 1879, a siding in 1881, by 1882 it had a 5th class stationmaster's house and gatekeeper's house, by 1884 also a shelter shed, platform and a cart approach, 30 ft (9.1 m) by 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed and, by 1896, it had cattle yards. A passing loop for 38 wagons was added in 1908 and sheep yards by 1911.[15]

On 12 September 1971 Rukuhia closed to all traffic[15] and only a passing loop remains.[17]

  1. ^ Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand
  2. ^ "Railways. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 22 April 1879. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  3. ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
  4. ^ Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: A.H&A.W Reed. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0589013165.
  5. ^ "Rapid progress with Hamilton to Ohaupo Railway Extension". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Vol. XI, no. 879. Waikato Times. 7 February 1878. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Messrs Davys Bros, Rukuhia Sawmills and 2-mile horse tram". Vol. XLV, no. 3648. Waikato Times. 19 November 1895. p. 2.
  7. ^ "NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 April 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  8. ^ "NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 April 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  9. ^ "WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 April 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  10. ^ "TELEGRAPHIC. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 March 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  11. ^ "AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 April 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ^ "THE HAMILTON – OHAUPO EXTENSION. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2 April 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  13. ^ "WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 June 1878. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Advancing Peat fires. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 25 January 1935. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  15. ^ a b c Scoble, Juliet. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  16. ^ "5.4 Railway Stabilisation through Peatlands" (PDF). nzgs.org. University of Auckland.
  17. ^ "Rukuhia Rd". Google Maps. Retrieved 16 March 2021.