Te Mawhai railway station

Te Mawhai railway station
Te Mawhai in 1949
General information
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates38°02′41″S 175°18′19″E / 38.044847°S 175.305405°E / -38.044847; 175.305405
Elevation36 m (118 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 512.86 km (318.68 mi)
History
Opened9 March 1887
Closed12 May 1962
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Previous namesTe Puhi to 10 December 1912[1]
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Te Awamutu
Line open, station closed
4.16 km (2.58 mi) 		  North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail 		  Te Kawa
Line open, station closed
5.98 km (3.72 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 Mawhai railway station was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.[2][3] Its primary traffic was supplies to the nearby Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital.[citation needed] The hospital was situated to be convenient for freight and passengers by rail and a light railway connection to the hospital was considered.[4]

Surveying to extend the railway from Te Awamutu to Ōtorohanga was started in 1883 by Charles Wilson Hursthouse.[5] The first sod ceremony was performed at the Puniu River on 15 April 1885.[6] Trains were working through to Ōtorohanga by January 1887,[7] but the line wasn't handed over from the Public Works Department to the Railways Department until March 1887.[8] Initially trains only ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays.[9]

By 1896 there was a shelter shed, platform, cart approach and a passing loop for 27 wagons, extended to 38 by 1911.[10]

In 1912 a meeting asked for a loading bank, cattle yards, caretaker and goods shed and to change the name from Te Puhi to the same as the post office, Te Mawhai.[11] The name was changed,[12] a goods shed was added in 1915[13] and improved in 1916,[14] telephone came in 1921,[10] urinals were added in 1922,[15] £895 was spent on improving stock loading in 1929[10] and electric light came in 1933.[16]

  1. ^ Scoble, Juliet. "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 January 2020.
  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. ^ "King Country Asylum. WAIKATO ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 August 1910. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  5. ^ "NATIVE OBSTRUCTION. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 March 1883. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  6. ^ "THE NORTH ISLAND TRUNK RAILWAY. TURNING THE FIRST SOD. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 16 April 1885. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  7. ^ "THE MAIN TRUNK LINE. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 13 January 1887. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  8. ^ "LATEST TE AWAMUTU NEWS. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 March 1887. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  9. ^ "NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 13 April 1887. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Stations" (PDF). NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  11. ^ "TE PUHI. WAIPA POST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 8 October 1912. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  12. ^ "TE PUHI RAILWAY FACILITIES. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 25 October 1912. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  13. ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. H. HERRIES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1915. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  14. ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. H. HERRIES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1916. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  15. ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, HON. D. H. GUTHRIE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1922. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  16. ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. A. VEITCH". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1933. Retrieved 17 March 2021.