Kaitoke Railway Station
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Kaitoke
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| Formerly New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR) | |
One of the private dwellings built on the site of Kaitoke station.
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| Location | Station Drive, Kaitoke |
| Coordinates | 41°5′4.22″S 175°10′5.02″E / 41.0845056°S 175.1680611°E |
| Owned by | Formerly Railways Department Now in private ownership |
| Line(s) | Formerly part of Wairarapa Line |
| Platforms | Single |
| Tracks | 1 main line, 1 crossing loop |
| History | |
| Opened | 28 December 1877 |
| Closed | 30 October 1955 |
| Previous names | Pakuratahi, Kaitoki |
Kaitoke railway station was a single-platform rural railway station on the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island. Initially it was the railhead of the Wairarapa Line, at a point where the railway met the main road between Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa. Later it was a point at which locomotives were changed, steam engines were watered, trains could cross, and passengers could make use of the refreshment room.
The station was closed along with the old route via the Rimutaka Incline on which the Fell system was used over the Rimutaka Ranges when the Rimutaka Deviation opened in 1955.
The Mungaroa Contract for the construction of the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and the Pakuratahi Valley included a station near the terminus of the contract, originally called Pakuratahi Station. The contractor for this section was Charles McKirdy, who was to have completed the contract between 3 June 1874 and 3 March 1876 but, as was common with contracts for the construction of the Wairarapa Line, work was not completed on time. Having run out of money with two months of work left to complete, the contract was picked up by McKirdy’s guarantors, Walter Turnbull and John McKenzie. They applied for and received further funds to continue the work, which was completed on 16 December 1877.
When work was nearing completion, the Government called for tenders to erect a fourth-class station building and stationmaster’s house. The contract was let to W. H. Ridler for the sum of £1,778. This contract also possibly included the erection of the goods shed on a siding 12 chains (240 metres) to the north of the station (the goods shed was demolished in 1882). A separate contract for the sum of £1,514 was let to Messrs. Fraser and Lyon for the construction of an access road to the station and the levelling of the site for the station and house.
By early December 1877, the Public Works Department had advanced platelaying as far as Pakuratahi Station, by this time renamed Kaitoki, later (probably in the 1880s) to become Kaitoke. As Kaitoke was expected to be the railhead for two years, there was some consternation over the siting of the station, with complaints particularly from the Wairarapa that the site was unsuitable for the trans-shipment of goods between road and rail. The Government stood firm and the station stayed where it was intended to be.
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Wikipedia