Melling, New Zealand
Improved interchanges are planned for the Melling and Kennedy-Good bridges.
History
Melling was named after William Melling, a former Lancashire mentor of Richard Seddon in the foundry where he worked prior to leaving for New Zealand. Seddon and Melling remained in touch, with gifts of New Zealand lamb being sent to Melling at his home in St Helens at Christmas time. The name came about after then-Premier Seddon revisited England and his friend Melling in 1897. Melling had never visited New Zealand, and the local settlers intended to change the name to one of greater significance.
The original Melling railway station opened on 26 May 1908, while the Melling bridge opened in 1909.
Melling Line
The Melling Railway Station is the terminus of the Melling Line which provides a suburban commuter service to Wellington. This line was originally part of the Hutt Valley Line through to Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa, but became a separate (electrified) branch line on 1 March 1954, when the section north of Melling to Haywards (now Manor Park) was closed and replaced by a new double-tracked line on the eastern side of the Hutt River (the old Melling-Haywards section could not be double-tracked).
Demographics
Melling is included in the Alicetown-Melling statistical area.
External links
References
- ^ "SH2 Melling to Haywards upgrade". New Zealand Transport Authority. 26 April 2015.
- ^ "Mellings". Dominion. 7 May 1909. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ "Our London Letter". Dominion. 4 September 1897. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
- ^ Hoy, D.G. Rails out of the Capital (NZRLS, 1970) pp. 13,63,80