Pahiatua Railway Station
Encyclopedia
Pahiatua railway station is a station on the Wairarapa Line
, a railway line that runs through the Wairarapa
region of New Zealand
’s North Island
. It was opened in May 1897, shortly before the line was completed and opened to Woodville
in December of that year. The station is actually located 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) out of Pahiatua
, the town it was built to serve, in contrast to the original plans for the railway line to run through the town.
As Pahiatua is one of the more significant towns in the northern Wairarapa, the station was for many years one of the few staffed stations on the northern section of the line. Though passenger traffic ceased in 1988, the station continues to be the source of freight traffic thanks to the neighbouring dairy factory, and it is also the home of the Pahiatua Railcar Society
.
At the time the Wairarapa Line was completed, the Wellington – Longburn line
was owned and operated by the privately held Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, meaning all government trains from Wellington
to destinations north ran via the Wairarapa, ascribing a status of some importance to stations like Pahiatua. The popular Napier Mail
trains were diverted from their original Napier
– Palmerston North
route to run via the Wairarapa to Wellington, and became the main passenger service stopping at Pahiatua, supplementing the mixed trains that continued to run on this section. This situation continued until 1908, after which the Wairarapa Line reverted to secondary line status.
Shortly after the nationalisation of the WMR line, the Napier Express was diverted from the Wairarapa Line to run through the Manawatu Gorge
and down the former WMR line to Wellington. Thereafter, the main passenger service to stop at Pahiatua was its replacement, the Wairarapa Mail
. A new passenger-only service was provided from 1936 with the introduction of the Wairarapa-class railcars
, which supplemented and later replaced the Wairarapa Mail in 1948. The Wairarapa railcars were in turn replaced after the opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel
in 1955 by the twinset railcars
, which provided the main passenger service for Pahiatua for the next 22 years. The 1959 railcar timetable shows two north-bound and two south-bound railcar services stopping at Pahiatua each day of the week, with a third service on Fridays. During the period in which railcar services were provided through Pahiatua, locomotive-hauled carriage trains were occasionally provided when demand exceeded the capacity of the railcars, but finally replaced railcar services altogether in 1977.
After the railcar services were withdrawn, patronage of passenger services on the northern section of the Wairarapa Line gradually declined as roads in the region improved. Demand finally reached a point where the service was no longer economical, and consequently the Palmerston North – Masterton – Wellington and return service was withdrawn from 1 August 1988. This move led to the closure of Pahiatua station to passenger services, though it remained open for goods traffic.
reported in his annual statement of 31 March 1896 that the formation of the Wairarapa Line between Newman and Woodville was nearly complete. A little more than a year later, on 3 May 1897, Pahiatua station was opened (it is not recorded whether any special ceremony or celebration was held to mark the occasion), along with the Newman – Pahiatua section of the line. Pahiatua was not long the terminus of the line, as the next section from Pahiatua to Mangatainoka was opened on 2 August, and the complete line was opened to Woodville on 11 December.
The original station building was built to the standard (“Special”) Class 2 design using wood and corrugated iron as building materials, as was common for stations serving towns similar to Pahiatua at the time. Facilities included a station building, platform, "cart-road to passenger platform", a 60 by goods shed, a loading bank, a crane, and cattle yards. The interior of the station building contained a ticket office and counter, a waiting room, a station master’s office, general staff office and amenities, and public amenities. A stationmaster’s house was also provided. A platform veranda was constructed in September 1900, and telegraph facilities were added in 1912.
The station was for many years without an adequate water supply, prompting the stationmaster to report on 10 February 1949 that there was nothing to fight fires with and to request that the locomotive water vats be modified so they could be used by the fire brigade if necessary. The public amenities were also considered to be inadequate, but it was not until the station was replaced that modern ablution facilities were provided.
Various alterations were made to the station building as changing requirements necessitated them. However, insufficient attention seems to have been paid to routine maintenance, and action was often taken in response to complaints from the public. In 1957, a remodelling plan for the station was proposed, which was expected to remedy all of the major maintenance issues outstanding at a cost of £2530. It was not until 1963 that money was set aside for the renovations in the working estimates, by which time the District Engineer was in favour of replacing the building. The old station building was painted, and it was planned to set aside money for the new building in the 1967 working estimates.
Arrangements were made in January and February for the official opening ceremony, for which the dates of 10 March and 17 March were initially proposed. The Ways and Works Branch were requested to have the old station building removed and the site tidied up prior to this time. The date of the ceremony was later moved to 31 March, and members of the public were invited to attend.
Prime Minister
Sir Keith Holyoake
officially opened the station, with around 100 guests and members of the public in attendance. Special guests present included Colonel W. R. Burge, son of Pahiatua’s first stationmaster; past station masters, including Mr. J. Weston; Mr. W. W. Day, chairman of the Pahiatua County Council; Mr. T. M. Small, Deputy General Manager of the Railways; and the mayor, Mr. J. L. Terry. A bronze plaque had been ordered to mark the occasion, which was unveiled by the Prime Minister, and read:
After the ceremony, the official party and invited guests repaired to the Club Hotel for afternoon tea.
and Woodville on the Wairarapa Line. As well as being the base of operations for the Pahiatua Railcar Society and the premises from which they operate their railway museum, it is also used as required to marshal freight trains when wagons are collected from the neighbouring dairy factory. The station is owned by KiwiRail
, with the Pahiatua Railcar Society being a lessee.
Several facilities have been retained or added at the site, both original and more modern. The 1971 station building remains, as does the original goods shed. The railcar society has erected its own buildings to support its various functions, including a Railcar Storage Shed and Workshop (2001), and a Rolling Stock Storage Shelter (June 2002). As well as the main line, there are two loops and several sidings serving the railcar shed, goods shed, and rolling stock storage shelter.
For a period of seven years from 27 November 1988, the northern section of the Wairarapa Line was effectively mothballed, with no trains scheduled to pass through Pahiatua. Congestion on the Wellington – Palmerston North section of the NIMT led to the rescheduling of the Wellington – Napier freight services to run via the Wairarapa from 14 August 1995. Following the daylighting of tunnels Nos. 3, 4, 5 on the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line
in Q3 2008, and thus the removal of the impediment to running hi-cube containers through the Manawatu Gorge, the Wellington – Napier freight services were redirected to their original route from late 2008. Fonterra’s Pahiatua dairy factory is the source of traffic for two daily Pahiatua – Palmerston North and two daily Palmerston North – Pahiatua freight services (Monday – Friday).
Wairarapa Line
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand, connecting the capital city of Wellington with the Wairarapa region. The line ends at Woodville, where it joins the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line...
, a railway line that runs through the Wairarapa
Wairarapa
Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...
region of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
’s North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
. It was opened in May 1897, shortly before the line was completed and opened to Woodville
Woodville, New Zealand
Woodville is a small town in the southern North Island of New Zealand, 75 km north of Masterton and 25 km east of Palmerston North. In the 2006 census 1,398 people are usually resident in Woodville, a decrease of 81 people, or 5.5%, since the 2001 Census.-Early History and Local...
in December of that year. The station is actually located 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) out of Pahiatua
Pahiatua
Pahiatua is a rural service town in the south-eastern North Island of New Zealand with an urban and rural population of over 4,000. It is between Masterton and Woodville on State Highway 2 and the Wairarapa Line railway, north of Masterton and east of Palmerston North...
, the town it was built to serve, in contrast to the original plans for the railway line to run through the town.
As Pahiatua is one of the more significant towns in the northern Wairarapa, the station was for many years one of the few staffed stations on the northern section of the line. Though passenger traffic ceased in 1988, the station continues to be the source of freight traffic thanks to the neighbouring dairy factory, and it is also the home of the Pahiatua Railcar Society
Pahiatua Railcar Society
The Pahiatua Railcar Society is a society located in Pahiatua, New Zealand, dedicated to the restoration of railcars and other locomotives and rolling stock formerly operated by the New Zealand Railways Department...
.
Heyday: 1897–1908
When the station opened, Pahiatua was served by mixed trains that had already been providing services to stations further south on those sections of the line that were opened as the railway line made its way north. These trains provided the only passenger services to Pahiatua for the few months it took to complete the line through to Woodville.At the time the Wairarapa Line was completed, the Wellington – Longburn line
Wellington - Manawatu Line
The Wellington and Manawatu Line is an unofficial name for the section of New Zealand's North Island Main Trunk Railway between Wellington and Palmerston North...
was owned and operated by the privately held Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, meaning all government trains from Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
to destinations north ran via the Wairarapa, ascribing a status of some importance to stations like Pahiatua. The popular Napier Mail
Napier Express
The Napier Express was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department initially between Napier and Palmerston North and later between Napier and Wellington. It ran from 1891 until 1954.-Introduction:...
trains were diverted from their original Napier
Napier, New Zealand
Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...
– Palmerston North
Palmerston North
Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
route to run via the Wairarapa to Wellington, and became the main passenger service stopping at Pahiatua, supplementing the mixed trains that continued to run on this section. This situation continued until 1908, after which the Wairarapa Line reverted to secondary line status.
Halcyon years: 1908–1988
The Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company’s line from Wellington to Longburn was purchased by the government in 1908, which had an effect on services provided in the Wairarapa, particularly the section of the line north of Masterton. Because of the lengthy and costly delays associated with the operation of the Rimutaka Incline, much freight traffic from the northern Wairarapa region was diverted north through Woodville and Palmerston North so it could be taken down the Main Trunk Line to Wellington. Mixed trains, however, continued to operate through Pahiatua.Shortly after the nationalisation of the WMR line, the Napier Express was diverted from the Wairarapa Line to run through the Manawatu Gorge
Manawatu Gorge
The Manawatu Gorge runs between the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges of the North Island of New Zealand, linking the Manawatu and Hawke's Bay regions...
and down the former WMR line to Wellington. Thereafter, the main passenger service to stop at Pahiatua was its replacement, the Wairarapa Mail
Wairarapa Mail
The Wairarapa Mail was a passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department between Wellington and Woodville, continuing on to Palmerston North as a mixed train...
. A new passenger-only service was provided from 1936 with the introduction of the Wairarapa-class railcars
NZR RM class (Wairarapa)
The NZR RM class Wairarapa railcar was the first truly successful class of railcars to operate on New Zealand's national rail network...
, which supplemented and later replaced the Wairarapa Mail in 1948. The Wairarapa railcars were in turn replaced after the opening of the Rimutaka Tunnel
Rimutaka Tunnel
The Rimutaka Tunnel is a railway tunnel through New Zealand's Rimutaka Ranges, between Maymorn, near Upper Hutt, and Featherston, on the Wairarapa Line.The tunnel, which was opened to traffic on 3 November 1955, is long...
in 1955 by the twinset railcars
NZR RM class (88 seater)
The NZR RM class 88-seaters were a class of railcar used in New Zealand, known unofficially as 'articulateds', 'twinsets', 'Drewrys' and 'Fiats'. They were purchased to replace steam-hauled provincial passenger trains and mixed trains...
, which provided the main passenger service for Pahiatua for the next 22 years. The 1959 railcar timetable shows two north-bound and two south-bound railcar services stopping at Pahiatua each day of the week, with a third service on Fridays. During the period in which railcar services were provided through Pahiatua, locomotive-hauled carriage trains were occasionally provided when demand exceeded the capacity of the railcars, but finally replaced railcar services altogether in 1977.
After the railcar services were withdrawn, patronage of passenger services on the northern section of the Wairarapa Line gradually declined as roads in the region improved. Demand finally reached a point where the service was no longer economical, and consequently the Palmerston North – Masterton – Wellington and return service was withdrawn from 1 August 1988. This move led to the closure of Pahiatua station to passenger services, though it remained open for goods traffic.
Original station: 1897
The Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works DepartmentNew Zealand Ministry of Works
The New Zealand Ministry of Works, formerly the Department of Public Works and sometimes referred to as the Public Works Department or PWD, was founded in 1876 and disestablished and privatised in 1988...
reported in his annual statement of 31 March 1896 that the formation of the Wairarapa Line between Newman and Woodville was nearly complete. A little more than a year later, on 3 May 1897, Pahiatua station was opened (it is not recorded whether any special ceremony or celebration was held to mark the occasion), along with the Newman – Pahiatua section of the line. Pahiatua was not long the terminus of the line, as the next section from Pahiatua to Mangatainoka was opened on 2 August, and the complete line was opened to Woodville on 11 December.
The original station building was built to the standard (“Special”) Class 2 design using wood and corrugated iron as building materials, as was common for stations serving towns similar to Pahiatua at the time. Facilities included a station building, platform, "cart-road to passenger platform", a 60 by goods shed, a loading bank, a crane, and cattle yards. The interior of the station building contained a ticket office and counter, a waiting room, a station master’s office, general staff office and amenities, and public amenities. A stationmaster’s house was also provided. A platform veranda was constructed in September 1900, and telegraph facilities were added in 1912.
The station was for many years without an adequate water supply, prompting the stationmaster to report on 10 February 1949 that there was nothing to fight fires with and to request that the locomotive water vats be modified so they could be used by the fire brigade if necessary. The public amenities were also considered to be inadequate, but it was not until the station was replaced that modern ablution facilities were provided.
Various alterations were made to the station building as changing requirements necessitated them. However, insufficient attention seems to have been paid to routine maintenance, and action was often taken in response to complaints from the public. In 1957, a remodelling plan for the station was proposed, which was expected to remedy all of the major maintenance issues outstanding at a cost of £2530. It was not until 1963 that money was set aside for the renovations in the working estimates, by which time the District Engineer was in favour of replacing the building. The old station building was painted, and it was planned to set aside money for the new building in the 1967 working estimates.
Replacement station: 1971
Pahiatua’s new railway station was completed by railways staff at a cost of $20,000 in 1971. The building, on concrete foundations, had weatherboard cladding and an aluminium roof, and contained a general office, stationmaster’s office, a waiting room, booking office, and public amenities in 1200 square feet (111.5 m²) of space. The platform and yard fences were also replaced as part of the same project. It was expected that a new goods shed and loading shelter would be added at some point in the future. The signals and communications equipment was housed in a separate building. This was one of the last wooden station buildings of its type erected by the Railways Department before they switched to using more modern materials.Arrangements were made in January and February for the official opening ceremony, for which the dates of 10 March and 17 March were initially proposed. The Ways and Works Branch were requested to have the old station building removed and the site tidied up prior to this time. The date of the ceremony was later moved to 31 March, and members of the public were invited to attend.
Prime Minister
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
Sir Keith Holyoake
Keith Holyoake
Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, KStJ was a New Zealand politician. The only person to have been both Prime Minister and Governor-General of New Zealand, Holyoake was National Party Prime Minister from 20 September 1957 to 12 December 1957, then again from 12 December 1960 to 7...
officially opened the station, with around 100 guests and members of the public in attendance. Special guests present included Colonel W. R. Burge, son of Pahiatua’s first stationmaster; past station masters, including Mr. J. Weston; Mr. W. W. Day, chairman of the Pahiatua County Council; Mr. T. M. Small, Deputy General Manager of the Railways; and the mayor, Mr. J. L. Terry. A bronze plaque had been ordered to mark the occasion, which was unveiled by the Prime Minister, and read:
After the ceremony, the official party and invited guests repaired to the Club Hotel for afternoon tea.
Today
Pahiatua station is the only operational station between MastertonMasterton Railway Station
Masterton railway station is a single-platform, urban railway station serving the town of Masterton in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand. The station lies on the Wairarapa Line, and is located at the end of Perry Street. It is one hour, thirty seven minutes journey time to Wellington. Trains...
and Woodville on the Wairarapa Line. As well as being the base of operations for the Pahiatua Railcar Society and the premises from which they operate their railway museum, it is also used as required to marshal freight trains when wagons are collected from the neighbouring dairy factory. The station is owned by KiwiRail
KiwiRail
KiwiRail Holdings Limited is the rail operations subsidiary of the New Zealand Railways Corporation, which trades as KiwiRail. Headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail transport operator in New Zealand. Since July 2010 John Spencer has been the Chairman...
, with the Pahiatua Railcar Society being a lessee.
Several facilities have been retained or added at the site, both original and more modern. The 1971 station building remains, as does the original goods shed. The railcar society has erected its own buildings to support its various functions, including a Railcar Storage Shed and Workshop (2001), and a Rolling Stock Storage Shelter (June 2002). As well as the main line, there are two loops and several sidings serving the railcar shed, goods shed, and rolling stock storage shelter.
For a period of seven years from 27 November 1988, the northern section of the Wairarapa Line was effectively mothballed, with no trains scheduled to pass through Pahiatua. Congestion on the Wellington – Palmerston North section of the NIMT led to the rescheduling of the Wellington – Napier freight services to run via the Wairarapa from 14 August 1995. Following the daylighting of tunnels Nos. 3, 4, 5 on the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line
Palmerston North - Gisborne Line
The Palmerston North – Gisborne Line is a secondary main line railway in the North Island of New Zealand. It branches from the North Island Main Trunk Railway in Palmerston North and runs east through the Manawatu Gorge to Woodville, where it meets the Wairarapa Line, and then proceeds to...
in Q3 2008, and thus the removal of the impediment to running hi-cube containers through the Manawatu Gorge, the Wellington – Napier freight services were redirected to their original route from late 2008. Fonterra’s Pahiatua dairy factory is the source of traffic for two daily Pahiatua – Palmerston North and two daily Palmerston North – Pahiatua freight services (Monday – Friday).