Okahukura Railway Station
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) to 2009, being 9.65 km (6.00 mi) east of Tuhua. The Public Works Department operated a limited train service as far as Matiere from 1922. A junction with the NIMT at Ongarue, and even as far north as Puketutu (via Mokauiti and Ohura) had been considered before the Okahukura route was decided in 1911. Work started shortly after Sir Joseph Ward had turned the first sod, including the construction of workshops and 4 railway houses at Okahukura, and the station opened the following year. It seems that the initial service was provided by coaches attached to goods trains.
A cattle yard and goods shed were added in 1915. In 1916 a porter was paid 9 shillings a week.
Patronage
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Okahukura_railway_station_passenger_use_1928-1950.jpg/220px-Okahukura_railway_station_passenger_use_1928-1950.jpg)
Passenger numbers peaked in 1934, as shown in the graph and table below -
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Okahukura_road-rail_bridge.jpg/220px-Okahukura_road-rail_bridge.jpg)
Road-rail bridge
The concrete foundations of the 260 ft (79 m) road-rail bridge over the Ongarue River, on the Stratford line had been laid by 1918, but war-time steel shortages delayed further work. The first piles were sunk in 1916 and it had been completed by January 1922.
In 2019 reopening of the line was listed as a possible future priority.
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. It was started in February 1914 and completed in December 1920, after digging out 58,000 cu yd (44,000 m) of mudstone.
References
- ^ Scoble, Juliet (April 2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
- ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
- ^ Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: A.H&A.W Reed. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0589013165.
- ^ "RAILWAY WORKS. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 November 1933. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "MATIERE RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1922. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "STRATFORD-MAIN TRUNK. STRATFORD EVENING POST". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 8 November 1932. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 November 1907. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "DISTRICT PARS. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 November 1907. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "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 October 1912. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "SLOW RAILWAY-MAKING. TARANAKI DAILY NEWS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 April 1913. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "THE STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 17 March 1913. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "TAUMARUNUI TRAINS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 September 1912. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "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 27 March 2020.
- ^ "MEMBERS OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT. APPENDIX TO THE JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1916". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- ^ "RAILWAY TO MATIERE. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 March 1923. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ Representatives, New Zealand Parliament House of (1918). Parliamentary Debates.
- ^ "STRATFORD RAILWAY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 January 1922. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ "The Draft New Zealand Rail Plan" (PDF). Ministry of Transport. December 2019.