Puketutu railway station

Puketutu was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line,[1] in the Waitomo District of New Zealand. It was 7.21 km (4.48 mi) north of Kopaki and 8.24 km (5.12 mi) south of Waiteti.[2]

Puketutu railway station
1968 aerial view of Puketutu
Location	New Zealand
Coordinates	38.43175°S 175.22917°E / -38.43175; 175.22917
Elevation	206 m (676 ft)
Line(s)	North Island Main Trunk
Distance	Wellington 461.83 km (286.97 mi)
History
Opened	8 May 1889
Closed	23 October 1977
Electrified	June 1988
Previous names	Mokau until 11 May 1903
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station Waiteti Line open, station closed   North Island Main Trunk KiwiRail   Kopaki Line open, station closed

Initial doubt about the route of the line to the south was resolved by a survey in 1884. It was then said that the bush might provide timber traffic for the railway for 50 years, until it was all converted to farm land.[3] Works were advanced enough for a ministerial party to ride the route to the south on horseback by 1890.[4] Most of the construction was done by cooperatives.[5]

The Public Works Department had contracted the Te Kūiti to Mōkau Station section on 9 March 1887 and it opened just over 2 years later. Construction began on the section southward to Poro-O-Tarao tunnel in September 1892.[6] However, for twelve years, from 1889 until the line to Poro-O-Tarao opened on 1 April 1901, Puketutu was the terminus of the line,[7] though, from 18 January 1897, a weekly goods train ran to Poro-O-Tarao.[8] The delay was partly due to poor access and rugged country, but 2 years of the delay were due to economic recession, little work being done from 1890 to 1892.[6]

1880s purchase plan of Mokau (Puketutu) Station

The name was changed from Mōkau to Puketutu on 11 May 1903.[9]

Lack of fencing to the south was an issue when the line opened, with many cattle killed and trains delayed.[10] Although plans for fencing were made in 1885, before the land was bought, it wasn't until 1907 that fencing started and 1909 before it was finished.[7]

A 21 mi (34 km) branch line[11] down the Mōkau valley to Piopio and Aria was surveyed, but rejected in a ballot (under the 1914 Local Railways Act) in 1922.[12] A 10 mi (16 km) extension south to a coal seam at Waitewhena was also considered.[13] From 1933 that mine was served via Ohura on the Stratford–Okahukura Line.[14]

A cattle yard was added in 1924.[15] A railway house was added in 1938.[16]

The line approaching the station was eased when it was electrified.[7]

Waiteti Stream waterfall, beside the line, about 2km north of Puketutu