Rangiriri railway station

Rangiriri was a flag station about 2 km (1.2 mi) south-east of Rangiriri,[2] on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waikato District of New Zealand, 56 mi (90 km) south of Auckland.[3] It was 588.2 km (365.5 mi) north of Wellington, 3.32 km (2.06 mi) south of Te Kauwhata, 7.26 km (4.51 mi) north of Ohinewai and 9 m (30 ft) above sea level.[4]

Rangiriri Railway Station
Rangiriri Railway Station
Auckland Weekly News 7 May 1914
LocationRangiriri
New Zealand
Coordinates37.433023°S 175.150008°E / -37.433023; 175.150008
Owned byKiwiRail Network
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
Tracksdouble track
from 14 December 1958[1]
History
Opened13 August 1877
Closed21 July 1957

History

The station opened on 13 August 1877.[5] The early service averaged about 13 mph (21 km/h), taking about 4hr 30 mins to Auckland, 15mins to Ohinewai and 38mins to Ruawaro (Huntly).[6]

Track doubling to ease congestion had been authorised in 1914,[7] but work was delayed by the war. Doubling from Ohinewai to Te Kauwhata didn't open until 14 December 1958.[4] Rangiriri was a tablet station by 1918.[8] A cattle yard was built in 1925.[9] Automatic colour light signals were installed in 1930[10] and electric lighting in 1938.[11]

From 1925 Firth’s had a pumice concrete works near the station,[12] beside Te Onetea Stream, making products, such as garden rollers,[13] water troughs, concrete posts, pipes, and washing coppers, until it relocated to Frankton about 1934,[2] though a 1935 advertorial was by Firth Concrete, Rangiriri.[14] 1896 returns show that Firth had an interest in goods traffic at Rangiriri at that time.[15]

Incidents

A goods train was derailed by wrongly set points in 1884.[16]

On a bridge north of Rangiriri a pedestrian was killed in 1914[17] and another in 1919.[18]

A rail worker was killed on a jigger to the north of the station in 1941.[19]

A truck driver was killed at the station site when the Northern Explorer hit his truck at Te Onetea Road level crossing on 27 February 2014. No one on the train was injured.[20]

Rangiriri railway station on Sheet N52 1942 one inch map
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Te Kauwhata
Line open, station closed		   North Island Main Trunk
New Zealand Railways Department		   Ohinewai
Line open, station closed

References
  1. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS GEOGRAPHICAL MILEAGE TABLE 1957
  2. "WDC District Plan Review – Built Heritage Assessment Historic Overview – Te Kauwhata & District" (PDF). Waikato District Council. 2018.
  3. "Page 6 Advertisements Column 3 (New Zealand Herald, 1882-03-31)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  4. New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0 900609 92 3.
  5. "TABLE NO. 9.— Appendix K. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.—NORTH ISLAND. Statement of Lengths of Sections Open for Traffic, 31st March, 1880". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  6. "Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 21 August 1877. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  7. "Railways Improvement Authorization Act, 1914" (PDF).
  8. "Signal and electrical RAILWAYS STATEMENT 1918". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  9. "RAILWAYS STATEMENT 1925". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  10. "Signal and electrical. Railways Statement 1930". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  11. "Railways Statement 1938". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  12. "Pumice works? at Rangiriri". www.aucklandcity.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  13. "MODERN CONCRETE, WAIKATO TIMES". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 27 May 1931. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  14. "This Modern Decoration, New Zealand Herald". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 20 July 1935. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  15. "1896. NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS STATEMENT. PARTICULARS RETURN No. 20". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  16. "RAILWAY ACCIDENT. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 5 September 1884. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  17. "KILLED BY A TRAIN. NEW ZEALAND HERALD". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 19 June 1914. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  18. "RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. OHINEMURI GAZETTE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 29 December 1919. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  19. "Rail Jigger Fatality NORTHERN ADVOCATE". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 24 December 1941. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  20. "RO-2014-101". www.taic.org.nz. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
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