Taumarere railway station explained

Taumarere railway station
Country:New Zealand
Coordinates:-35.3609°N 174.0939°W
Line:Opua Branch
Opened:24 December 1867

Taumarere railway station was a station on the Opua Branch in New Zealand[1] and is a stop on the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway near Taumarere village. It is on the oldest railway built on the North Island,[2] which opened in 1867.[3] Taumarere station has had three locations, east of the village, west of the village and at the rugby ground.

History

Coal was discovered at Kawakawa in 1864.[4] Rails[5] and wagons from the Auckland & Drury railway[6] were used for the gauge, horse-drawn tramway from the mine to the Derrick wharf on the Kawakawa River at Taumarere. The tramway opened on 26 December 1867[7] and was completed on 16 January 1868,[8] after which the mine was transferred to the newly formed Bay of Islands Coal Company.[9] Horses and the wooden tramway line were replaced on January 28, 1871, by the first steam engine to run in the North Island. In 1874 Bay of Islands Coal Company agreed with Auckland Province that the government would take over the tramway[10] and build the extension.[11] The line was closed from 2 to 11 December 1876 to allow for it to be converted to 3 ft 6 in gauge.[12] Work on the Kawakawa River viaduct and first mile of the extension to Opua was completed in April 1881,[13] a contract was let on 10 December 1880 for the remaining 4ch11ch[14] and a start was made in June 1881,[15] [16] but it wasn't until October 1883 that authority was sought for a solid platform at the station, which was rebuilt[17] [18] before 7 April 1884, when the extension opened.[19] When the line opened to Opua, the to the Derrick Wharf closed.[20] The company declined an offer to run the line, as it did not wish to raise more capital,[21] so the track was operated by New Zealand Railways Department.[22] The company sold the tramway to the government and paid 6% of the total cost of the line to lease it back.[23] The station was originally closer to the village, between Bridge 5 (Tirohanga Stream) and the Rugby Club,[24] but, after closure on 7 April 1974,[25] it was moved east, near the bridge over the Kawakawa River.[26] In 1883, as a railway,[27] and then in 1890 as a tramway, a Kamo-Puhipuhi link was proposed,[28] with a possible Taumarere-Puhipuhi extension, including a 1 in 12 incline.[29] Possibly it was the same proposed tramway depicted in an undated plan of the station.[30] Taumarere had one of the five stationmaster's houses built on the line about 1883.[31] By 1898 it had a platform, water tower, cattle yard and a passing loop and a loading bank was added in 1916. The siding was removed about 1955. In 1963 the kauri-planked building was bought for £100. In 1997 it was given back to the railway. With closure of the railway in 2000, the building and its surrounds deteriorated, graffiti daubed, and the whole area became unkempt.[32] A wooden platform[33] was built at the rugby ground in 2011.[34]

Long Bridge

Bridge 9 is a curved viaduct over the Kawakawa River, just to the east of the current station. When completed n 1882 it was long, on 19 x and 22 x spans,[35] above high tide level, with piles below the water.[36] In 2011[37] and 2015 the bridge was described as long, the longest curved wooden bridge in the southern hemisphere.[38] The original bridge and first mile of the extension cost £9,274.[39] The bridge was strengthened in 1927 to allow AB Class engines to use it[40] and steel girders replaced the decking in 1937.[41] In 2014 the Lottery gave over $470,000 to renew the bridge piles.[42]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: bayofislandsvintagerailway.org.nz . 2013-04-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130205070111/http://bayofislandsvintagerailway.org.nz/history.html . 5 February 2013 . dmy-all .
  2. Web site: 4 March 1968 . Centenary Of First N.I. Line. Press . 2024-06-04 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  3. Web site: 9 January 1868 . Russell. Daily Southern Cross . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  4. Web site: 19 March 1864 . Weekly epitome of news. New Zealander . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  5. Web site: 13 November 1867 . Daily Southern Cross . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  6. Web site: 9 November 1867 . Daily Southern Cross . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  7. Web site: 13 January 1868 . The Kawakawa coal mines. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  8. Web site: 21 January 1868 . The Kawakawa coal mines. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  9. Web site: 10 April 1868 . Bay of Islands Coal Company. Daily Southern Cross . 2024-05-31 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  10. Web site: 4 September 1874 . New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  11. Web site: 10 December 1879 . Public Works' Statement. Auckland Star . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  12. Web site: 27 November 1876 . New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  13. Web site: 26 April 1881 . Scintillations. Auckland Star . 2024-05-26 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  14. Web site: Appendix F. Schedule of Railway Contracts Current on the 1st April, 1880 . 2024-05-31 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  15. Web site: 6 July 1883 . Country news. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-26 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  16. Web site: 1884 . Annual report on railways in the north island by the engineer in charge. . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  17. Web site: 25 September 1883 . The Kawakawa railway extension. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-26 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  18. Web site: Scoble . Juliet . Station Archive . Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  19. Web site: 1 May 1884 . New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-26 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  20. Web site: Return No. 19. Comparative statement of Mileage of Railways Open for Traffic and Under Maintenance on 31st March, 1885 . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  21. Web site: 10 August 1883 . Bay of Islands Coal Company. Auckland Star . 2024-05-31 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  22. Web site: 8 August 1884 . Bay of Islands coal company. Auckland Star . 2024-05-25 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  23. Web site: 29 January 1876 . Bay of Islands coal company. Daily Southern Cross . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  24. Web site: 1977 . 1:63360 map Sheet: N15 Kaikohe . 2024-05-25 . www.mapspast.org.nz.
  25. Web site: Scoble . Juliet . Station Archive . Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  26. Web site: Taumarere, Northland . 2024-05-25 . NZ Topo Map . en.
  27. Web site: 6 June 1883 . New Zealand Herald . 2024-06-02 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  28. Web site: 24 May 1890 . The Kamo-Puhipuhi Tranway. Northern Advocate . 2024-06-02 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  29. Web site: 13 November 1889 . Puhipuhi forest and silver mines. New Zealand Herald . 2024-07-04 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  30. Web site: Taumarere station - tramway access . MOTAT.
  31. Web site: 14 July 1883 . Waikato Times . 2024-07-04 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  32. Web site: 20 Dec 2013 . Beez Neez now Chy Whella - B of I V.R. . 2024-06-04 . blog.mailasail.com.
  33. Web site: August 2019 . Rugby Club Railway Station BOIVR . 2024-07-06 . Google Maps . en.
  34. Web site: 8 September 2011 . All aboard steam train for rugby fun . 2024-05-27 . www.stuff.co.nz.
  35. Web site: 1882 . Annual report on railways in the north island by the engineer in charge. . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  36. Web site: 25 September 1883 . The Kawakawa railway extension. New Zealand Herald . 2024-05-26 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  37. Web site: 4 June 2011 . Carter promises bridge restoration . 2024-05-27 . NZ Herald . en-NZ.
  38. Web site: Adina Brown, Rod Clough . November 2015 . NRC Coastal and Freshwater Heritage Survey . Northland Regional Council.
  39. Web site: 12 March 1880 . Auckland Star . 2024-05-26 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  40. Web site: 23 November 1927 . Whangarei news. Auckland Star . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  41. Web site: 28 October 1937 . Local & General. Northern Advocate . 2024-05-27 . paperspast.natlib.govt.nz.
  42. Web site: 7 May 2014 . LongBridge re-piling costs covered . 2024-05-31 . PressReader.

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