Whangamarino railway station

Whangamarino Railway Station
1942 Whangamarino railway station
on N52 one inch map
General information
LocationWhangamarino
New Zealand
Coordinates37°20′53″S 175°06′50″E / 37.348053°S 175.113916°E / -37.348053; 175.113916
Owned byKiwiRail Network
Line(s)North Island Main Trunk
Trackssingle[1]
History
Opened13 August 1877
Closed2 February 1969 to passengers
25 June 1978 to goods

Whangamarino was a flag station on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Waikato District of New Zealand, 49 mi (79 km) south of Auckland.[2] It was 598.24 km (371.73 mi) north of Wellington, 6.19 km (3.85 mi) south of Amokura, 6.72 km (4.18 mi) north of Te Kauwhata and 7 m (23 ft) above sea level.[3]

History

The station opened on 13 August 1877.[4] The early service averaged about 13 mph (21 km/h), taking some 4hrs to Auckland.[5]

Track doubling to ease congestion was authorised in 1914,[6] but work was delayed by the war and the line remains single. A scheme to use spoil from the Auckland City Rail Link to double the track has been considered.[7]

1914 Whangamarino crash

Incident

Three passengers in a sleeping car died in May 1914, when an express from Wellington passed a broken signal in fog and crashed into a goods train.[8] A porter was charged with manslaughter, but acquitted.[9]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Amokura
Line open, station closed 		  North Island Main Trunk
New Zealand Railways Department 		  Te Kauwhata
Line open, station closed
1907 train stranded between Wairangi and Whangamarino by floods

References

  1. ^ NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS GEOGRAPHICAL MILEAGE TABLE 1957
  2. ^ "Page 6 Advertisements Column 3 (New Zealand Herald, 1882-03-31)". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  3. ^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (Fourth ed.). Quail Map Co. 1993. ISBN 0-900609-92-3.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Auckland Star". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 21 August 1877. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Railways Improvement Authorization Act, 1914" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Auckland tunnel waste may be used to double-track Waikato rail line". Stuff. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Railway Disaster. WAIKATO ARGUS". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 28 May 1914. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  9. ^ "THE WHANGAMARINO SMASH. AUCKLAND STAR". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. 9 September 1914. Retrieved 14 March 2020.