Okahukura railway station explained

Okahukura railway station
Country:New Zealand
Coordinates:-38.8016°N 175.2238°W
Elevation:178m (584feet)
Line:North Island Main Trunk
Distance:Wellington 408.54km (253.85miles)
Opened:1912
Closed:Before Dec 1975 passenger
27 August 1978 goods[1]
Electrified:June 1988
Former:Okahukora to 7 Aug 1913
Passengers:11,940
Pass Year:1934

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

The station opened when work started on the eastern end of the Stratford–Okahukura Line. It was served by through trains on that line from 3 September 1933 (though rails were completed by 7 November 1932)[4] to 2009, being 9.65km (06miles) east of Tuhua. The Public Works Department operated a limited train service as far as Matiere from 1922.[5] A junction with the NIMT at Ongarue,[6] and even as far north as Puketutu[7] (via Mokauiti and Ohura)[8] had been considered before the Okahukura route was decided in 1911.[9] Work started shortly[10] after Sir Joseph Ward had turned the first sod, including the construction of workshops and 4 railway houses at Okahukura,[11] and the station opened the following year. It seems that the initial service was provided by coaches attached to goods trains.[12]

A cattle yard and goods shed were added in 1915.[13] In 1916 a porter was paid 9 shillings a week.[14]

Patronage

Passenger numbers peaked in 1934, as shown in the graph and table below -

yearticketsseason ticketsstaffsource
19289,21959"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1928"
19299,37964"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1929"
19308,65463"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1930"
193111,27990"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1931"
19329,910111"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1932"
193310,822160"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1933"
193411,940119"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1934"
19356,739129"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1935"
19366,575129"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1936"
19375,989130"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1937"
19385,062114"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1938"
19395,431121"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1939"
19403,983110"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1940"
19415,09479"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1941"
19426,202111"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1942"
19436,536138"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1943"
19446,478144"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1944"
19456,757106"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1945"
19467,25486"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1946"
19476,01272"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1947"
19484,89914"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1948"
19493,27914"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1949"
19503,34026"STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1950"

Road-rail bridge

The concrete foundations of the 260feet[15] road-rail bridge over the Ongarue River, on the Stratford line had been laid by 1918, but war-time steel shortages delayed further work.[16] The first piles were sunk in 1916 and it had been completed by January 1922.[17]

In 2019 reopening of the line was listed as a possible future priority.[18]

Okahukura tunnel

76ch long Okahukura tunnel, is 2miles up from Okahukura, along the Stratford line, on a 1 in 50 gradient. It was started in February 1914 and completed in December 1920, after digging out 58000yd3 of mudstone.

External links

Photo of road-rail double deck bridge about 1930

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand. Juliet. Scoble. April 2010. Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  2. Book: New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas. Quail Map Co.. 1965. First. 3 & 4.
  3. Book: Pierre, Bill. North Island Main Trunk. A.H&A.W Reed. 1981. 0589013165. Wellington. 289–290.
  4. Web site: RAILWAY WORKS. MANAWATU STANDARD. 24 Nov 1933. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-26.
  5. Web site: MATIERE RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR. 23 May 1922. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-26.
  6. Web site: STRATFORD-MAIN TRUNK. STRATFORD EVENING POST. 8 Nov 1932. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-26.
  7. Web site: PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. AUCKLAND STAR. 9 Nov 1907. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-31.
  8. Web site: DISTRICT PARS. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. 15 Nov 1907. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-31.
  9. Web site: PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. BY THE HON. WILLIAM FRASER, MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1912. 18 Oct 1912. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-27.
  10. Web site: SLOW RAILWAY-MAKING. TARANAKI DAILY NEWS. 26 April 1913. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-27.
  11. Web site: THE STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 17 March 1913. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-27.
  12. Web site: TAUMARUNUI TRAINS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 27 Sep 1912. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-27.
  13. Web site: RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. H. HERRIES. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1915. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-27.
  14. Web site: MEMBERS OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1916. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-27.
  15. Web site: RAILWAY TO MATIERE. NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 7 March 1923. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-26.
  16. Book: Representatives, New Zealand Parliament House of. Parliamentary Debates. 1918. en.
  17. Web site: STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD. 11 Jan 1922. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2020-03-26.
  18. Web site: The Draft New Zealand Rail Plan. December 2019. Ministry of Transport.

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