Ngaurukehu railway station

Ngaurukehu, Ngarukehu,[1] or Ngaurakehu,[2] was a flag station[3] on the North Island Main Trunk line,[4] in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand. It is in the Hautapu River valley.[5] It was 9.64 km (5.99 mi) north of Mataroa, 3.91 km (2.43 mi) south of Turangarere.[6] Ngaurukehu is part way up a 1 in 70 gradient from Mataroa to Hīhītahi,[7] so that it is 110 m (360 ft) above Mataroa and 62 m (203 ft) below Turangarere.[6] It now has three passing loops.[8]

Ngaurukehu railway station
Ngaurukehu railway station on 1970 map
LocationNew Zealand
Coordinates39.611300°S 175.708200°E / -39.611300; 175.708200
Elevation640 m (2,100 ft)
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
DistanceWellington 270.79 km (168.26 mi)
History
Opened1 July 1909
Closed1992
ElectrifiedJune 1988
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station
Turangarere
Line open, station closed		   North Island Main Trunk
KiwiRail		   Mataroa
Line open, station closed

History

The line through Ngaurukehu was built and equipped with a telegraph line[9] by the Public Works Department (PWD) in 1906.[10] It was transferred to NZR on 1 July 1908,[11] but sidings north and south of the single track weren't opened until Thursday 1 July 1909. They were added to reduce delays caused by trains waiting to clear each other on the climb from Mataroa to Turangarere.[12] Ngaurukehu was staffed by two tablet porters,[13] with a signalbox and houses.[14] 2 more state houses were built in 1955 and by 1957 the crossing loop had been extended, with motor points and colour light signals. Tenders for further extension of the loop were invited in 1973.[9]

To the north of the station, the 112 m (367 ft) Ngaurukehu, or Rabbit, tunnel,[6] was prepared for electrification in 1984.[7]

Incidents
Broom between Ngaurukehu and Turangerere in November 2010.

A train driver was killed 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Ngaurukehu in 1919, when the brakes failed and his train ran out of control down the hill.[15]

On 5 December 1923 a guard was injured when his van overturned after a goods train was reversed from the north siding, holding 46 wagons, into the south siding, which only had room for 41, the remainder falling off the end of the track. Some of the debris later fell onto a coach on an express train.[16] In 1929 Cabinet approved extension of the south backshunt for £400.[9]

Slips were a common problem. Between Hīhītahi and Ngaurukehu a slip derailed an engine in 1918,[17] part of a goods train in 1923[18] and a large boulder overturned a locomotive and derailed nine wagons in 1940.[19] Slips in the vicinity of the station delayed trains in 1912,[20] 1926,[21] 1929,[22] 1930,[23] 1935,[3] 1940.[24]

Scientific Reserve

To the west of the railway[25] 215 acres (87 ha) was taken on 20 August 1911[26] for Maungakaretu (now Ngaurukehu) Scientific Reserve,[27] which protects several plants, including the rare Small-leaved Tree Daisy, Olearia gardneri. It is threatened by broom, Cytisus scoparius, and Khasia berry, Cotoneaster simonsii, which are common in the area.[28] The 1907 recommendation was for protection of a rather larger area.[29]

References
  1. "LIMITED DELAYED. MANAWATU TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 Nov 1925. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  2. "NATURE NOTES. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 Jun 1933. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  3. "SLIPS ON RAILWAYS. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 Aug 1935. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  4. Scoble, Juliet. "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand 1863 to 2010" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand.
  5. "Ngaurukehu, Manawatu-Wanganui". NZ Topo Map. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  6. New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0-900609-92-3.
  7. "North Island Main Trunk Historic Area". www.heritage.org.nz. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  8. "Retrolens - Satellite view". retrolens.nz. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  9. "Stations" (PDF). NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
  10. "WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND. NEW ZEALAND MAIL". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 Apr 1906. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  11. "MAIN TRUNK LINE. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 10 Jun 1908. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  12. "MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 July 1909. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  13. "RAILWAY ACCIDENT. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 December 1923. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  14. "FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 March 1918. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  15. "Main Trunk Smash. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 15 May 1919. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  16. "RAILWAY ACCIDENT. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 Dec 1923. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  17. "GENERAL TELEGRAMS. MANAWATU TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 11 Dec 1918. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  18. "MAIN TRUNK EXPRESS DELAYED. MANAWATU TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 6 Aug 1923. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  19. "RAILWAYS STATEMENT (BY THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, HON. R. SEMPLE). 1941". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  20. "RANGITIKEI ADVOCATE AND MANAWATU ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 23 Sep 1912. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  21. "MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 13 May 1926. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  22. "MAIN LINE SLIPS. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 1 Jul 1929. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  23. "SLIP ON RAILWAY. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 Nov 1930. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  24. "ABNORMAL RAINFALL. MANAWATU STANDARD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 Feb 1940. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  25. "Indigenous higher plants of Ngaurukehu Scientific Reserve" (PDF). nzpcn. Aug 1992.
  26. "DEPARTMENT OF LANDS: SCENERY-PRESERVATION. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1912". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  27. Cleaver, Philip (May 2012). "TAKING OF MAORI LAND FOR PUBLIC WORKS IN THE TAIHAPE INQUIRY DISTRICT" (PDF). Waitangi Tribunal.
  28. Ogle, Colin (June 2003). "Conservation of Olearia gardneri: report for the Rare, Small-leaved Tree Daisy Recovery Group" (PDF). DoC.
  29. "DEPARTMENT OF LANDS: SCENERY PRESERVATION. REPORT Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 31 Mar 1907. Retrieved 2020-10-25.

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