Taringamotu railway station

Taringamotu railway station was a station at Taringamotu on the North Island Main Trunk, in the Ruapehu District and Manawatū-Whanganui region.[1]

Taringamotu railway station
Taringamotu derailment 1915
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates38.85428°S 175.237513°E / -38.85428; 175.237513
Elevation173 m (568 ft)
Owned byKiwiRail
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 402.49 km (250.10 mi)
Trackssingle
History
Opened1 December 1903
Closed16 April 1972 passengers
9 March 1987 goods
Electrified25 kV 50 Hz AC June 1988
Previous namesTaringamutu until 7 August 1913
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Okahukura
Line open, station closed
6.05 km (3.76 mi)		   North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail		   Taumarunui
Line open, station closed
4.74 km (2.95 mi)

Goods traffic was reported to have started by November 1902.[2] A station master was appointed in 1911.[3] In 1920 he was working over 12 hours a day.[4] In 1924 it was a 6th grade post.[5] The stationmaster was withdrawn from 26 June 1926.[6] Reports mention a caretaker being at the station in 1948 and 1951.[6]

The name was changed from Taringamutu to Taringamotu after Alexander Young had described it as an error in Parliament in 1913.[7]

In 1908 additions were made to the station buildings and a station house was built. By 1911 there was a shelter shed, platform, loading bank and a passing loop for 36 wagons.[8] Electric lighting came in about 1936.[9]

Timber was the main traffic, transferring from the Taringamotu Tramway, but the station also handled other goods, such as 122 tons of fertilisers in 1926.[10] Taringamotu Totara Sawmills' private siding was 1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km) south of the station.[8]

In 1939 the line between Taumarunui and Taringamotu became the first in the country to get CTC, meaning that Taringamotu closed as a tablet station.[11]

Taringamotu railway station passenger use 1910–1927

Passenger numbers rose rapidly until 1916, as shown in the table and graph below –

year tickets season tickets staff sources titles
1910 993 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1910/I/2050 RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1910
1911 1,778 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1911/I/2497 RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31st March, 1911
1912 2,931 8 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1912/II/2420 RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1912
1913 2,904 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1913/I/3693 RETURN No. 12. STATEMENT of Revenue and Expenditure of each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1913
1914 3,035 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1914/I/2031 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1914
1915 3,336 1 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1915/I/1638 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1915
1916 4,347 4 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1916/I/1053 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1916
1917 4,107 9 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1917/I/1123 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1917
1918 4,110 11 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1918/I-II/1159 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1918
1919 3,333 38 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1919/I/1231 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1919
1920 2,982 29 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1920/I/1349 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1920
1921 2,929 18 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1921/I-II/1452 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1921
1922 2,998 56 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1922/I/1409 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1922
1923 2,522 94 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1923/I-II/1321 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1923
1924 2,836 88 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1924/I/2458 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1924
1925 2,794 37 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1925/I/1804 RETURN No. 12. Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1925
1926 2,476 60 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1926/I/1930 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1926
1927 559 15 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/appendix-to-the-journals-of-the-house-of-representatives/1927/I/2230 STATEMENT No. 18 Statement of Traffic and Revenue for each Station for the Year ended 31 March 1927

Taringamotu closed to all traffic from 16 April 1972. In 1974 the crossing loop was extended.[12] The loop was closed on 9 March 1987.[13]

There is now just a single track and a 2-span girder bridge over the Ongarue River.[14]

Incidents

The line wasn't fenced until 1909. In October 1905 a letter from 22 Māori farmers between Taumarunui and Taringamotu complained of the agreement to do so being broken, saying, "Fifteen horses have been killed, eight cows, and five pigs".[15]

In 1915 the Ongarue River undermined a bank and two engines and a van, which had been moving very slowly, were overturned. One fireman had a minor hand,[16] or head, injury.[17]

Two goods trains crashed in 1943, with slight injuries to drivers and firemen.[18]

Floods and slips closed the line nearby on several occasions.[19][20] In 2015 the wooden bridge over the Ongarue River was replaced in concrete and mass stabilisation was applied to the nearby embankment.[21]

References
  1. New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0-900609-92-3.
  2. "NORTH TRUNK RAILWAY. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 November 1902. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  3. "KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 2 December 1911. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  4. "RAILWAY BOARD. DOMINION". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 February 1920. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  5. "MEMBERS OF THE RAILWAYS DEPARTMENT". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 April 1924. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  6. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. 2012.
  7. Parliament, New Zealand (1913). Parliamentary Debates: House of Representatives. p. 457.
  8. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. 2012.
  9. "NEW TIME-TABLE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 25 January 1936. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  10. "ARTIFICIAL MANURE. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 November 1929. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  11. "RAILWAYS STATEMENT (BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, HON. D. G. SULLIVAN)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1939. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  12. "Station Archive". Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. 2012.
  13. Scoble, Juliet (2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  14. "69 Te Araroa Trail". Google Maps. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  15. "Te Mana WhaTuahuru Report on Te Rohe Pōtae Claims Parts I and II Wai 898" (PDF). WAITANGI TRIBUNAL. 2018.
  16. "MAIN TRUNK LINE. Embankment gives way. PRESS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 July 1915. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  17. "RAILWAY ACCIDENT. MANAWATU TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 July 1915. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  18. "TRAINS COLLIDE. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 7 December 1943. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  19. "SLIPS ON THE RAILWAY. KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 May 1925. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  20. "NORTH ISLAND FLOODS. OTAGO DAILY TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 March 1933. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  21. "KiwiRail upgrade '007' licenced to thrill – Contractor Magazine". Retrieved 19 March 2020.
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