Te Kawa railway station
Te Kawa railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand,[2][3] located at Te Kawa.
Te Kawa railway station | |||||||||||
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![]() Te Kawa railway station in 1934 | |||||||||||
Location | New Zealand | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 38.093093°S 175.283518°E | ||||||||||
Elevation | 48 m (157 ft) | ||||||||||
Line(s) | North Island Main Trunk | ||||||||||
Distance | Wellington 506.88 km (314.96 mi) | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 9 March 1887 | ||||||||||
Closed | 17 October 1971[1] | ||||||||||
Electrified | June 1988 | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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![](../I/1955_Te_Awamutu_-_Te_Mawhai_-_Te_Kawa_North_Island_Main_Trunk_map.jpg.webp)
The railway crossed 5,000 acres (2,000 ha)[4] (or 8,000) Te Kawa Swamp[5] 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[6] and provide for the flow of water.[7] A post office was open by 1909 and a drainage board set up,[8] which was extended in 1915, by which time the station was handling traffic for Waikeria Prison.[9]
In 1908 the station was being considered as a junction for a line to Kawhia and Raglan[10] and by 1920 as a junction on a railway from Kawhia to Rotorua.[11]
The line to the south of Te Kawa falls on a 1 in 183 gradient.[12] There was a private siding for grain at the station in the 1970s and 80s.[13]
The station site was sold in 2000.[6]
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.
- "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