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
Location	New Zealand
Coordinates	38.801591°S 175.22378°E
Elevation	178 m (584 ft)
Line(s)	North Island Main Trunk
Distance	Wellington 408.54 km (253.85 mi)
History
Opened	1912
Closed	Before Dec 1975 passenger 27 August 1978 goods[1]
Electrified	June 1988
Previous names	Okahukora to 7 Aug 1913
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]

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.

External links

Photo of road-rail double deck bridge about 1930