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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Halcombe Railway Station

Halcombe railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) in New Zealand, serving the village of Halcombe, in the Manawatū-Whanganui region. It opened in 1878 and closed in 1983. Originally it was the main intermediate station on the 85 mi 34 ch (137.5 km) Whanganui to Foxton railway. Only a single track remains through the station site, as the passing loops here and at Kakariki were replaced by the Rangitawa loop, 3.03 km (1.88 mi) to the north, on 14 December 1983.

Halcombe in 1942 - Retrolens photo

History

The station had its first trains when the Feilding – Halcombe Section opened on Monday 22 April 1878. When the Halcombe – Marton Section completed the railway, linking the ports of Foxton and Whanganui, on Monday 20 May 1878, the mayor of Palmerston North declared a public holiday.

William Nicholson's contract for a 5th class station started on 17 January 1877 and was completed on 14 April 1877 for £157.5s.

When it was decided that Halcombe should be the refreshment stop on the line, that original station was moved to Greatford and a much larger, 104 ft (32 m) by 20 ft (6.1 m), station was built by J & C Bull. Their £2,845 9s 6d contract got its final certificate on 23 August 1878 and was completed by 5 August 1879. To make way for expansion, the goods shed and loading bank were moved to a new site in 1881. By 1896 there was a special class station building, including refreshment rooms, a kitchen, 180 ft (55 m) long passenger platform, cart access to the platform, 40 ft (12 m) by 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed, loading bank, cattle yards, stationmaster's house, urinals and a passing loop for 46 wagons. Two years later there were also sheep yards, a crane and a water service. Water tanks had been proposed in 1878, about 100 feet beyond the platform. In 1910, after the NIMT opened, the need for more office accommodation was noted and a veranda and longer platform were requested, but rejected. There was a Post Office at the station from 1895 to 1914. A veranda was added in 1912 and was still in place in 1941. Gangers houses were built in 1916 and a State house in 1955.

An excursion train was derailed on the points at the station in 1902, with its WD Class loco.

Refreshment Rooms

From the start the choice of Halcombe, rather than Marton, for a refreshment stop had been criticised, by both Marton and Palmerston North, as had the route through Halcombe, rather than Sanson. Initially the trains spent over 40 minutes at the refreshment stop, but that was soon roughly halved. The refreshment rooms were leased; for example, in 1883-4 the lease was £20 a year, but only £12 in 1898. In 1878 they were run by the Halcombe Hotel. From Saturday 24 December 1898 they were replaced by rooms at Marton.

Services

The line became part of the NIMT, when it fully opened in 1909, and Halcombe was one of the stopping points for Wellington to New Plymouth expresses in 1910 and in the 1940s. In the 1920s the station was staffed by a grade 7 clerk.

tickets sales 1880–1950 – derived from annual returns to Parliament of "Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended"

Halcombe had its annual returns of traffic recorded, as did Greatford to the north and Feilding to the south. Passenger numbers grew initially and during the World Wars, before tailing off towards 1950, as shown in the graph and table below.

year tickets season tickets staff ref.
1881 4870 4
1882 10056 4
1883 9875 4
1884 9606 4
1885 6374 3
1886 6204 3
1887 5527 3
1888 5217 3
1889 5328 1 2
1890 5564 3 3
1891 5918 3 3
1892 6021 7 3
1893 7017 15 3
1894 7361 9 3
1895 7193 3 3
1896 Page 11 missing
1897 5343 5 3
1898 5938 5 3
1899 5706 6 3
1900 5862 8 3
1901 Pages 30–35 missing
1902 7291 2 3
1903 8658 5 3
1904 8790 15 3
1905 8747 27 3
1906 9175 13 3
1907 9897 8 3
1908 9995 2 3
1909 9245 9 11
1910 9608 2 3
1911 8957 14 3
1912 9423 29 3
1913 9666 30 4
1914 9227 28
1915 9245 40
1916 8671 17
1917 8685 72
1918 10307 130
1919 11461 155
1920 11029 133
1921 12039 90
1922 9539 123
1923 8393 165
1924 7904 100
1925 6371 66
1926 6776 118
1927 5835 84
1928 4986 73
1929 4791 76
1930 4811 108
1931 6319 100
1932 6091 96
1933 6758 50
1934 6599 55
1935 7036 50
1936 7295 58
1937 7633 87
1938 7713 206
1939 6941 193
1940 7113 58
1941 8060 63
1942 8786 69
1943 9649 61
1944 9707 76
1945 8513 87
1946 8269 68
1947 7538 83
1948 6333 90
1949 5749 53
1950 5398 39

Engine shed

A large engine shed was built as part of the J & C Bull contract. Nathan & Wilkie built an extra engine shed and coal store for £795.10.4 in 1878-79. Initially a winch and chain was used to lift engines. Another shed seems to have been added in 1894.

Closure

From Saturday 6 December 1958 Halcombe was closed as an officered station. On Saturday 31 March 1962 the station building burnt down and a small storeroom was used as a temporary station. Removal of the goods shed and stockyards was approved in 1973. Most of the station buildings had gone by 1974, though in 1980 a station building, platform and loading bank remained. On Sunday 27 March 1983 the station closed to all traffic, but a service siding remained.

References

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