Tokomaru, New Zealand

Tokomaru
Rural settlement
Tokomaru Store
Tokomaru Store
Map
Coordinates: 40°28′19″S 175°30′32″E / 40.472°S 175.509°E / -40.472; 175.509
CountryNew Zealand
RegionManawatū-Whanganui region
Territorial authorityHorowhenua District
Wards
  • Miranui General Ward
  • Horowhenua Māori Ward
Electorates
Government
 • Territorial AuthorityHorowhenua District Council
 • Regional councilHorizons Regional Council
 • Horowhenua MayorBernie Wanden
 • Rangitīkei MPSuze Redmayne
 • Te Tai Hauāuru MPDebbie Ngarewa-Packer
Area
 • Total2.91 km2 (1.12 sq mi)
Population
 (June 2024)[2]
 • Total640
 • Density220/km2 (570/sq mi)

Tokomaru is a small town in the district of Horowhenua, in the southwestern North Island of New Zealand. It is located 18 kilometres southwest of Palmerston North, and a similar distance northeast of Shannon. The Tokomaru railway station on the North Island Main Trunk was open from 1885 to 1982.

The Tokomaru Steam Engine Museum features a collection of antique steam engine machinery, much of which is still operational. The collection includes a 1904 Fowler traction engine, an 1897 Aveling & Porter portable engine and a huge 335 hp Filer & Stowell stationary engine-compressor ex the Imlay Freezing Works, Wanganui. The museum is open by appointment.[3]

Tokomaru has two public reserves, the Tokomaru Domain, which includes a sports field and hall, and Horseshoe Bend reserve.[4]

The town has a locally run combined store and post office.

There are two factories on the outskirts of Tokomaru. One of them, Stevensons Structural Engineers, built structural steel buildings, and employed many of the Tokomaru residents until it went into liquidation on Friday 3rd March 2023. The other is a former dairy factory that was being renovated in 2011.[5]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Aotearoa Data Explorer". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Tokomaru Steam Engine Museum". tokomarusteam.com.
  4. ^ "Tokomaru Reserves". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  5. ^ "The ebb and flow of a rural township: Tokomaru". 4 November 2011.