Hīhītahi railway station

Hīhītahi means the first rays of the sun.[8] When opened on 1 July 1908 the station was Tarangarere,[9] changed to Turangaarere on 15 April 1909 and to Hihitahi on 21 August 1910.[10]

Until 25 October 1928 the crossing sidings to the south were called Gardner & Sons Siding, or Gardners Siding but then took the former name of its northern neighbour, Turangaarere, later becoming Turangarere.[10]

1909 Hīhītahi map showing the station layout and planned township

A service road to help with building the railway was formed in 1887,[9] when the route was first surveyed.[11] The Public Works Department (PWD) had the rail and telegraph lines through Hīhītahi[10]built by 1906.[12] NZR took it over as a flag station on 1 July 1908, when the railhead from the south was extended from Mataroa to Waiouru.[13]

A plan for the proposed station was made in 1903. Tenders were invited on 4 March 1907.[14] On 7 June 1907 a contract was let to A S Johnston of Hunterville for £2,201.0s.7d and the station was built by January 1908. When opened it was 66 ft (20 m) by 14 ft (4.3 m), with rooms for stationmaster, luggage, a lobby, urinals and ladies, on a 240 ft (73 m) by 15 ft (4.6 m) platform. There was also a 40 ft (12 m) by 30 ft (9.1 m) goods shed with verandah, a loading bank, cattle yards, two 4,000 imp gal (18,000 l) water tanks and a cart approach. Cottages for railway staff were built from 1904 to 1955. A crossing loop could take 54 wagons and a snowplough was kept at the station.

The station lost its passenger trains before 1972 and closed to all traffic on 31 January 1982.[10]

Between Hīhītahi and Waiouru the railway has four bridges over the Hautapu River.[15] They are made up of spans of -

• 66 ft (20 m), 2 x 33 ft (10 m) and 4 x 22 ft (6.7 m)
• 66 ft (20 m) and 7 x 22 ft (6.7 m),
• 2 x 33 ft (10 m) and 4 x 22 ft (6.7 m)
• 66 ft (20 m), 3 x 33 ft (10 m) and 2 x 22 ft (6.7 m)

The 66ft spans were latticed girders, and the others plate girders.[12]

Turangarere logging tramway in 1911

There were at least three tramway networks in the area, which took timber to sawmills and the railway. Gibbs & Trevor had a tramway running west from the station and George Gardner had tramways to the north west.[6] They had a 1927 Type Cb 0-4-4-0 built by A & G Price.[16] In 1906 a tramway ran to the PWD siding and next year, W G Irvine applied to run one beside the railway. Quin Bros siding was noted in 1909[10] and, in 1910, owners of the Hawera Sash & Door Co Ltd,[17] had a 4 mi (6.4 km) tramway linking their logging area to their mill and the railway.[18] They used a 1909 Type A 0-4-0 T built by J. Johnston's Vulcan Foundry at Invercargill and a 1914 0-4-4-0 by G & D Davidson Ltd. of Hokitika. The tramways were dismantled about 1934, when the bush had been cleared.[16][19]

In 1940 a boulder, estimated to weigh 120 tons,[20] slipped onto the line just north of the station, derailing K-Class locomotive,[21] No.919.[22] KA-Class No.945 suffered a similar crash in 1961.[23]

Slips in 1935[24] and 1945 closed the line[25] for several days.[26]

Report on 2008 derailment at crossing loop

Photos -

• 1905 view of a cutting being dug with pick, shovel and wheelbarrow
• Railway buildings in 2017
• Station building in 2018
• Google street view of railway buildings in 2019