Te Kawa Railway Station
The railway crossed 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) (or 8,000) Te Kawa Swamp to the north of the station on a 60 chains (4,000 ft; 1,200 m) embankment. Culverts were included to maintain the effectiveness of eel weirs in the swamp and provide for the flow of water. A post office was open by 1909 and a drainage board set up, which was extended in 1915, by which time the station was handling traffic for Waikeria Prison.
In 1908 the station was being considered as a junction for a line to Kawhia and Raglan and by 1920 as a junction on a railway from Kawhia to Rotorua. On 14 September 1913 the name of the station was changed from Kawa to Te Kawa. In 1917 a telephone was reported as connected, though another report put the date as 1929. By 1980 there was a passing loop for 123 wagons.
The line to the south of Te Kawa falls on a 1 in 183 gradient. There was a private siding for grain at the station in the 1970s and 80s.
The station site was sold in 2000.
References
- ^ Juliet Scoble: Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in 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.
- ^ "Cadastral map of the Te Kawa Swamp". tiaki.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "The Kawa Swamp, NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 4 January 1908. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ Philip Cleaver, ]onathan Sarich (November 2009). "Turongo: The North Island Main Trunk Railway and the Rohe Potae, 1870–2008" (PDF). Waitangi Tribunal.
- ^ "THE MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 29 January 1887. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "RECLAIMING THE SWAMPS. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 September 1909. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "Te Kawa deputations, WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 February 1915. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "RAILWAY FOR RAGLAN, WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 August 1908. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "RAIL TO KAWHIA. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 November 1920. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ Scoble, Juliet. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
- ^ "TE KAWA. Waikato Times". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 June 1929. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ^ "Express freight train 234, derailment, Te Kawa, 2 March 2001" (PDF). TAIC.
- ^ "Te Kawa Private Siding – Te Kawa Grain Driers Ltd". archway.archives.govt.nz. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
External links
- 1934 photo (top left) in The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 2 (1 May).
- Video of steam train passing through Te Kawa in 2008