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Rangiriri railway station

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Coordinates: 37°25′59″S 175°09′00″E / 37.433023°S 175.150008°E / -37.433023; 175.150008
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Rangiriri Railway Station
Rangiriri Railway Station
Auckland Weekly News 7 May 1914
General information
LocationRangiriri
New Zealand
Coordinates37°25′59″S 175°09′00″E / 37.433023°S 175.150008°E / -37.433023; 175.150008
Elevation9 m (30 ft)[1]
Owned byKiwiRail Network
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 588.2 km (365.5 mi)
Tracksdouble track
from 14 December 1958[2]
History
Opened13 August 1877
Closed21 July 1957
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Te Kauwhata
Line open, station closed
3.32 km (2.06 mi) towards Auckland 		  North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail 		  Ohinewai
Line open, station closed
7.26 km (4.51 mi) towards Wellington
Location
Map

Rangiriri was a flag station about 2 km (1.2 mi) south-east of Rangiriri,[3] near the end of Te Onetea Road,[4] on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waikato District of New Zealand, 56 mi (90 km) south of Auckland.[5]

History

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Construction

[edit]

Work started on the Mercer-Ngāruawāhia extension from 7 January 1874, with the arrival of the volunteer engineer militia,[6] who camped at the redoubt. On 10 January they were inspected by the Superintendent of Auckland Province, who then dug the first sod at Ngāruawāhia.[7] There was also a camp at Taupiri[8] and the militia built the Rangiriri to Ngāruawāhia section,[9] whilst the bridges and the 10 mi 13 ch (16.4 km) Mercer to Rangiriri part of the line were built by contractors, Martin & Briton.[10][11][12] A quarry at Taupiri supplied ballast for the line.[13] The district engineer in charge of building the railway was James Stewart.[14][15]

1877-1957

[edit]

The station opened on 13 August 1877,[16] with the extension of the line from Mercer to Ngāruawāhia,[17] or Newcastle,[18] though the regular service began the next day.[19] The early service averaged about 13 mph (21 km/h), taking about 4hr 30 mins to Auckland, 15mins to Ohinewai and 38mins to Ruawaro (Huntly).[20]

By 1884 there were a shelter shed, platform, cart approach, loading bank, water supply, urinals and a passing loop for 35 wagons, increased to 70 in 1913. By 1896 there was a railway house for a ganger and more houses were added in 1921. From 1898 there was a caretaker at the station. In 1940 a public telephone was installed. A decade after closure, sale of the station building was approved on 20 April 1967[21] and it had gone by August 1970.[22][23]

Track doubling and signalling

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Track doubling to ease congestion had been authorised in 1914,[24] but work was delayed by the war. Doubling from Ohinewai to Te Kauwhata didn't open until 14 December 1958.[1] Rangiriri was a tablet station by 1918.[25] Automatic colour light signals were installed in 1930[26] and electric lighting in 1938.[27] The station closed before the double track came into use.

Freight

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Between 1891 and 1896 a 40 ft (12 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed (with a verandah from 1908) and a 30cwt. crane were added and by 1897 also cattle yards.[21] A new cattle yard was built in 1925.[28] In 1938 the wharf and siding on the Onetea Stream, to the south of the station, were dismantled.[21]

From 1925 Firth’s had a pumice concrete works near the station,[29] beside Te Onetea Stream, making products, such as garden rollers,[30] water troughs, concrete posts, pipes, and washing coppers, until it relocated to Frankton about 1934,[3] though a 1935 advertorial was by Firth Concrete, Rangiriri.[31] 1896 returns show that Firth had an interest in goods traffic at Rangiriri at that time.[32] In 2017 a cottage on the site was considered for historic protection, but deemed to be of insufficient significance.[3]

Incidents

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During construction, a member of the militia was injured when part of a cutting fell down in 1874.[33]

A goods train was derailed by wrongly set points in 1884.[34]

11 trucks fell in the swamp about 0.75 mi (1.21 km) south of the station, when a bridge collapsed due to flooding on 18 January 1893.[35]

On a bridge north of Rangiriri a pedestrian was killed in 1914[36] and another in 1919.[37]

A rail worker was killed on a jigger to the north of the station in 1941.[38]

A truck driver was killed at the station site when the Northern Explorer hit his truck at Te Onetea Road level crossing on 27 February 2014. No one on the train was injured.[39]

References

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  1. ^ a b New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0-900609-92-3.
  2. ^ "NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS GEOGRAPHICAL MILEAGE TABLE 1957" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "WDC District Plan Review – Built Heritage Assessment Historic Overview – Te Kauwhata & District" (PDF). Waikato District Council. 2018.
  4. ^ "1:63360 map Sheet: N52 Te Kauwhata". mapspast.org.nz. 1942. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  5. ^ "Page 6 Advertisements Column 3 (New Zealand Herald, 1882-03-31)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 8 January 1874. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  7. ^ "The Ngaruawahia and Mercer railway. Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 12 January 1874. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  8. ^ "Notes from the Waikato. New Zealand Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 16 January 1875. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  9. ^ "Railway exentsion from Mercer to Ngaruawahia. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 21 December 1876. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  10. ^ "SCHEDULE of CONTRACTS for the CONSTRUCTION of RAILWAYS under " The Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870," from 1st July, 1873, to 30th June, 1874". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  11. ^ "Contracts for Public Works in which Penalties have been enforced, from 1st July, 1875, to 30th June, 1876, and the Contracts in the case of which Penalties have accrued but have not been enforced, during the same period". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  12. ^ "Contracts for Public Works in which Penalties have been enforced, from 1st July, 1876, to 30th June, 1877, and the Contracts in the case of which Penalties have accrued but have not been enforced, during the same period". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Waikato railway extension. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 December 1874. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  14. ^ "Death of Mr James Stewart. Waikato Argus". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 13 February 1914. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 January 1874. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  16. ^ "TABLE NO. 9.— Appendix K. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.—NORTH ISLAND. Statement of Lengths of Sections Open for Traffic, 31st March, 1880". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  17. ^ "Opening of the railway to Ngaruawahia. New Zealand Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 14 August 1877. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  18. ^ "Opening of the railway. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 14 August 1877. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  19. ^ "Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 August 1877. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  20. ^ "Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 21 August 1877. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  21. ^ a b c Scoble, Juliet. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  22. ^ "Survey: SN1401, Run: D, Photo: 1". Retrolens. 1 October 1961.
  23. ^ "Survey: SN3293, Run: D, Photo: 1". Retrolens. 24 August 1970.
  24. ^ "Railways Improvement Authorization Act, 1914" (PDF).
  25. ^ "Signal and electrical RAILWAYS STATEMENT 1918". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  26. ^ "Signal and electrical. Railways Statement 1930". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  27. ^ "Railways Statement 1938". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  28. ^ "RAILWAYS STATEMENT 1925". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  29. ^ "Pumice works? at Rangiriri". www.aucklandcity.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  30. ^ "MODERN CONCRETE, WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 May 1931. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  31. ^ "This Modern Decoration, New Zealand Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 July 1935. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  32. ^ "1896. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS STATEMENT. PARTICULARS RETURN No. 20". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  33. ^ "Daily Southern Cross". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 November 1874. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  34. ^ "RAILWAY ACCIDENT. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 September 1884. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  35. ^ "Floods in Waikato. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 January 1893. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  36. ^ "KILLED BY A TRAIN. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 June 1914. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  37. ^ "RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. OHINEMURI GAZETTE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 29 December 1919. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  38. ^ "Rail Jigger Fatality NORTHERN ADVOCATE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 December 1941. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  39. ^ "RO-2014-101". www.taic.org.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
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