Kakahi railway station

Kakahi was a station on the North Island Main Trunk line,[1] in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand, serving Kakahi. It was 10.11 km (6.28 mi) north of Ōwhango and 5.27 km (3.27 mi) south of Piriaka. It formally opened on 9 November 1908.[2] The rails were laid south of Piriaka by May 1904[3] and a daily ballast train was running by October,[4][2] which also carried passengers.[5] Kakahi Bridge has five spans of 44 ft (13 m) and one of 23 ft (7.0 m)[6] supplied by G. Fraser & Sons of Auckland, which delayed construction to the south.[7] It crosses the Kakahi Stream,[8] which was sometimes called the Waitea River.[9]

Kakahi railway station
Kakahi 1908
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates38.938500°S 175.387200°E / -38.938500; 175.387200
Elevation266 m (873 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 382 km (237 mi)
History
Opened11 October 1904
Closed25 June 1978
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Piriaka
Line open, station closed		   North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail		   Ōwhango
Line open, station closed

An island platform and shelter were built in 1907, extended to 22 ft (6.7 m) x 9 ft (2.7 m) in 1908, with a lobby, urinals and a storeroom, plus a 30 ft (9.1 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed.[2][10] A stockyard was added in 1912 and extended in 1945, but closed on 26 January 1971. The shelter was removed in 1958 and the building on 26 November 1966, though in 1968 a new 12 ft (3.7 m) x 8 ft (2.4 m) weatherboard, lean-to shelter was built for parcels and phones.[2] The passing loop for 31 wagons was extended for 66 in 1937.[2]

Electric block tablet signalling was installed in 1913,[11] a new type of exchanger installed in 1965 and Centralised Traffic Control started on 15 May 1967.[2]

An engine turning triangle was built in 1951/1952 south of the viaduct, but appears to have been disused by 1969.[12]

On Sunday 25 June 1978 Kakahi closed to all traffic, though the loop remains in use.[2]

Incidents

From Piriaki, through Kakahi, to just south of Ōwhango, the line climbs a hill on the west side of the Whanganui River,[13] increasing to a maximum gradient of 1 in 50 on the Ōwhango bank.[14] As early as 1906 groynes were added to protect the line from the river and a cutting collapsed.[6] In 1908 it was noted that the hill was slipping,[15] engines were derailed in 1915[16] 1925[17] and 1959,[18] trains were delayed in 1918,[19] 1924,[20] 1925,[21] 1926,[22] 1933,[23][24] 1939,[25] 1940[26] and 1945[27] and a length of railway was realigned in 1923.[28] The 1933 disruption was long enough for an advert to refer to the 3/- charge for the bus replacement link.[29]

Sawmill

In November 1904 the Public Works Department set up a mill and a horse tramway to cut kahikatea, matai, rimu and totara from 1,200 acres (490 ha), for sleepers, bridges, etc during the NIMT completion, cutting about 11,000 board feet (26 m3), or superficial feet, a day.[30][31][32][33] About 45 staff worked the mill.[34] It was transferred from PWD to NZR on 30 July1909[2] and £3000 was spent on improvements.[35] Electric light was installed in 1912, but in 1914 the tramway was in a bad condition, in 1917 the sawmill was dismantled and in 1921 the sidings were removed. However, in 1955 a siding was provided for Kakahi Timber Co Ltd.[2]

See also

Taupo railway proposals - Kakahi-Pukawa line

References
  1. Scoble, Juliet. "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand 1863 to 2010" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  2. "Stations" (PDF). NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  3. "MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 May 1904. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  4. "TAUMARUNUI. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 12 Oct 1904. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  5. "THE KING COUNTRY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 Apr 1905. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  6. "WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND. NEW ZEALAND TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 3 Apr 1906. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  7. "PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT BY THE HON. W. HALL-JONES, MINISTER FOR PUBLIC WORKS, 28th OCTOBER, 1904". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  8. "Kakahi, Manawatu-Wanganui". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  9. "NORTH ISLAND MAIN TRUNK RAILWAY . BRIDGE OVER WAITEA RIVER, AT 127 MILES 45 CHAINS FROM MARTON JUNCTION ; ONE STEEL GIRDER SPAN OF 22 FT., FOUR OF 33 FT., AND ONE OF 44 FT. CREEK BED TO RAIL LEVEL, 55 FT. PROGRESS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 Oct 1906. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  10. "KAKAHI. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 29 Oct 1908. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  11. "RAILWAYS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, THE HON. W. H. HERRIES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1913. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  12. "Survey Number: SN1889". Retrolens. 19 January 1969.
  13. "Kakahi, Manawatu-Wanganui". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  14. "Report 99-119 Train 281 fall from cab Owhango (near Taumarunui)" (PDF). Transport Accident Investigation Commission. 15 Aug 1999.
  15. "AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 July 1908. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  16. "WASH-OUT ON MAIN TRUNK. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 Jul 1915. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  17. "LOCAL AND GENERAL. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 25 Jun 1925. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  18. "Riding the long steel road". New Zealand Geographic. July 1996. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  19. "ANOTHER LANDSLIP. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 Jul 1918. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  20. "SEVERE WEATHER. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 Apr 1924. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  21. "WASHOUT ON LINE. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 Jan 1925. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  22. "SLIPS ON MAIN TRUNK. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 Nov 1926. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  23. "SERIOUS RAILWAY DISLOCATION. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 Mar 1933. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  24. "SLIPS ON RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 30 Jun 1933. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  25. "BOULDER ON LINE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 Sep 1939. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  26. "LONG DELAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 26 Feb 1940. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  27. "SLIP CLEARED. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2 Nov 1945. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  28. "Deviation at Kakahi. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 Jul 1923. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  29. "AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 Mar 1933. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  30. "THE TIMBER INDUSTRY. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 3 Feb 1905. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  31. "IN THE KING COUNTRY. WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 Jun 1904. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  32. "A GOVERNMENT SAWMILL. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2 Nov 1906. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  33. "Public Works Statement. By the Hon. William Hall-Jones, Minister of Public Works". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 22 September 1908. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  34. "KAKAHI GOVERNMENT SAWMILL (RETURNS RELATIVE TO)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1908. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  35. "DEBATE IN PARLIAMENT. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 Dec 1910. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
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