Ohotu railway station

Ohotu railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.[1][2] When the station closed to all traffic, on 10 August 1959, it had a shelter shed and passenger platform.[3] It was part of the 13 1⁄2 mi (21.7 km) Mangaweka to Taihape section, opened by the Prime Minister, Richard Seddon, on 21 November 1904.[4] The station was across the Hautapu River from Torere village, which had been surveyed in 1896.[5]

Ohotu railway station
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates39.71°S 175.83°E / -39.71; 175.83
Elevation396 m (1,299 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 247.09 km (153.53 mi)
Connectionsuntil 5 January 1915 known as Egmont Box Co's siding
History
Opened21 November 1904
Closed10 August 1959
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Winiata
Line open, station closed
1.94 km (1.21 mi)		   North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail		   Utiku
Line open, station closed
3.4 km (2.1 mi)

Only a single track remains through the station site and there is little sign that there was ever a station there.[6]

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of [the] fifteenth night of the moon" for Ōhotu.[7]

Name

From 1908 Egmont Box Co had a sawmill at Ohutu, sometimes called Utiku,[8] or Torere.[9][10] When the track laying reached Ohotu in April 1904, it was described as Torere Junction.[11] From 5 January 1915 Egmont Box Co's siding, was renamed Ohotu[12] and it then became a booking station handling passengers and parcels.[13] The name of the post office changed from Ohutu to Ohotu in 1925.[14]

Ohotu Egmont Box Co tramway bridge after an accident during demolition in 1923

Timber

From 1908 until its closure in 1926,[14] Egmont Box Co's mill cut roughly 42,000,000 board feet (99,000 m3) of kahikatea, mainly for butter boxes,[15] in addition to some rimu.[8] Its tramway was extended as the bush was cut,[8] until it was cut out in 1921 and the mill closed.[15] The centre span of the 120 ft (37 m) Howe Truss bridge,[16] 160 ft (49 m) above the river, built of timbers up to 16 in (410 mm) thick,[17] which had been built by Sykes the & Shaw in 1911,[18] developed a crack which made it dangerous[15] to run their Climax locomotive[11] over it, so trucks were pulled over with a winch.[15] When the bush was cut out the bridge was sold for scrap. During demolition in 1923 it collapsed, killing one man and injuring another.[17]

References
  1. New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
  2. Pierre, Bill (1981). North Island Main Trunk. Wellington: A.H&A.W Reed. pp. 289–290. ISBN 0589013165.
  3. "Stations" (PDF). NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  4. "GALA DAY AT TAIHAPE. MANAWATU TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 21 November 1904. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  5. "Townships: Plan Of The Torere Village". archivescentral.org.nz. July 1896. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  6. "7905 State Hwy 1". Google Maps. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  7. "1000 Māori place names". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 6 August 2019.
  8. "TIMBER AND TIMBER-BUILDING INDUSTRIES (REPORT OF COMMISSION". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1909. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  9. "OHUTU NEWS. TAIHAPE DAILY TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 May 1919. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. "Sheet: WN38 1928 one inch map". www.mapspast.org.nz. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  11. "UTIKU NOTES. WANGANUI CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 April 1904. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  12. "Stations" (PDF). NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  13. "OHUTU RAILWAY STATION. RANGITIKEI ADVOCATE AND MANAWATU ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 28 October 1915. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  14. "POST AND TELEGRAPH DEPARTMENT (REPORT OF THE) FOR THE YEAR 1925-26". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  15. "EGMONT BOX COMPANY. HAWERA & NORMANBY STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 31 August 1921. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  16. "NEW ZEALAND TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 July 1920. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  17. "BRIDGE'S SUDDEN FAIL. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 3 December 1923. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  18. "UTIKU NOTES. WANGANUI CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 August 1911. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
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