Okahukura railway station

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

Okahukura railway station
Okahukura station site in 2019
Double deck bridge on Stratford branch in background
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates38.801591°S 175.22378°E / -38.801591; 175.22378
Elevation178 m (584 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 408.54 km (253.85 mi)
History
Opened1912
ClosedBefore Dec 1975 passenger
27 August 1978 goods[1]
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Previous namesOkahukora to 7 Aug 1913
Traffic
Passengers (1934)11,940
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Te Koura
Line open, station closed		   North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail		   Taringamotu
Line open, station closed

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 9.65 km (6.00 mi) east of Tuhua.[2] 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
Okahukura railway station passenger use 1928-1950

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

year tickets season tickets staff source title
1928 9,219 59 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1928/I/2628 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1928
1929 9,379 64 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1929/I/2090 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1929
1930 8,654 63 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1930/I/2212 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1930
1931 11,279 90 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1931/I-II/1778 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1931
1932 9,910 111 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1932/I-II/1934 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1932
1933 10,822 160 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1933/I/1388 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1933
1934 11,940 119 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1934/I/2278 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1934
1935 6,739 129 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1935/I/1326 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1935
1936 6,575 129 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1936/I/1552 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1936
1937 5,989 130 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1937/I/1896 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1937
1938 5,062 114 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1938/I/1652 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1938
1939 5,431 121 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1939/I/1970 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1939
1940 3,983 110 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1940/I/1314 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1940
1941 5,094 79 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1941/I/1203 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1941
1942 6,202 111 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1942/I/651 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1942
1943 6,536 138 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1943/I/679 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1943
1944 6,478 144 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1944/I/895 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1944
1945 6,757 106 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1945/I/969 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1945
1946 7,254 86 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1946/I/1548 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1946
1947 6,012 72 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1947/I/2495 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1947
1948 4,899 14 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1948/I/2521 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1948
1949 3,279 14 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1949/I/2104 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1949
1950 3,340 26 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1950/I/2366 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1950
Okahukura road-rail bridge

Road-rail bridge

The concrete foundations of the 260 ft (79 m)[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[15] and it had been completed by January 1922.[17]

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

Okahakura Road Rail Bridge

Okahukura tunnel

76 ch (5,000 ft; 1,500 m) long Okahukura tunnel, is 2 mi (3.2 km) up from Okahukura, along the Stratford line, on a 1 in 50 gradient.[6] It was started in February 1914 and completed in December 1920, after digging out 58,000 cu yd (44,000 m3) of mudstone.[15]

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References
  1. Scoble, Juliet (April 2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  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. "RAILWAY WORKS. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 Nov 1933. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  5. "MATIERE RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1922. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  6. "STRATFORD-MAIN TRUNK. STRATFORD EVENING POST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 8 Nov 1932. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  7. "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 Nov 1907. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  8. "DISTRICT PARS. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 Nov 1907. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  9. "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. BY THE HON. WILLIAM FRASER, MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1912". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 18 Oct 1912. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  10. "SLOW RAILWAY-MAKING. TARANAKI DAILY NEWS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 April 1913. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  11. "THE STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 17 March 1913. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  12. "TAUMARUNUI TRAINS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 Sep 1912. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  13. "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. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  14. "MEMBERS OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1916". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
  15. "RAILWAY TO MATIERE. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 March 1923. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  16. Representatives, New Zealand Parliament House of (1918). Parliamentary Debates.
  17. "STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 Jan 1922. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  18. "The Draft New Zealand Rail Plan" (PDF). Ministry of Transport. December 2019.

Photo of road-rail double deck bridge about 1930

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