Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc.
Hawkes Bay Railway (and others) - Section Opening Dates, 1874-1891
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The following details are mostly attached here so that the editor can find them next time she urgently needs to know them. However, some visitors may also find them useful. The shared significance of all three rail routes is - in this instance - in relation to the special settlements of immigrants brought to New Zealand under the Vogel Immigration & Public Works Scheme of the 1870s. Scandinavian settlements are the most prominent among those established in Manawatu-Rangitikei, Southern Hawkes Bay, and Wairarapa. These include Palmerston North, Mauriceville, Eketahuna (then Mellemskov), Dannevirke, Norsewood and Makaretu. Halcombe was a German settlement, while Feilding and Woodville were amongst those where British families were settled at that time. The Taranaki line is mostly included because in the 1880s it competed for limited Public Works funding with the Hawkes Bay line, just as the Wairarapa line had also done. However, it also received immigrants from the same countries during the 1870s. Needless to say, though, this is a very brief overview of the topic.
Take note of the length of time some of the more inland (mostly Scandinavian) bush settlements took to receive a rail link. These communities struggled terribly in their early years due to being impoverished at the time of migration, and the additional poverty that resulted from inability to produce goods that could survive the lengthy journey needed for resale in the main centres. Even when the railway was complete, it was not until the dairy factories opened (i.e. first Mauriceville in 1890, then Norsewood in 1892 and so on), that the small farms in these settlements could graduate from sheep and especially from growing grass for seed, to supplying milk to the dairy factory. Palmerston North, on the other hand, had a rail outlet in 1873, albeit a wooden tramline, and was soon the main rail junction in the lower North Island. The experiences of the immigrants deposited there in 1871 were, therefore, vastly different to those of their compatriots deposited in the Seventy Mile Bush.
Napier - Woodville (96 miles, 65 chains) & Woodville-Palmerston North (17 Miles, 21 chains)
Spit-Napier section (2 miles, 16 chains) - opened 25 November 1874
Napier-Hastings section (11 miles, 64 chains) - opened 12 October 1874
Hastings-Pakipaki section (4 miles, 27 chains) - opened 1 January 1875
Pakipaki-Te Aute [now Opapa] section (10 miles, 17 chains) - opened 17 February 1876
Te Aute-Waipawa section (12 miles, 53 chains) - opened 28 August 1876
Waipawa-Waipukurau section (4 miles, 49 chains) - opened 1 September 1876
Waipukurau-Takapau section (12 miles, 79 chains) - opened 12 March 1877.
Takapau-Kopua section (5 miles, 63 chains) - opened 25 January 1878. This event was celebrated with an excursion train from Hastings that brought around 1,000 people to Kopua in a 24-carriage train. The opening of this section brought Norsewood to a 'mere' six miles from a rail head. This section became the closest rail link to the Scandinavian settlement of Makaretu, albeit that the town was 14 miles away, via Ashley Clinton. Scandinavians were first settled at Makaretu in 1872. On the surface, it seems they were a particularly long way from everywhere, and it was not until the early 1890s that a bridle track was created to allow a direct route of a mere six miles between Norsewood and Makaretu. This route, which in due course became a road, no longer exists in its entirety.
Kopua-Makotuku section (5 miles, 22 chains) - opened 9 August 1880. This section obviously included Ormondville Station, and the road route to Norsewood. Scandinavians were first settled at Norsewood in 1872. Until the first butter factory opened at Norsewood in 1892 (only the second, after Mauriceville, in the 70-Mile-Bush), the little 40 acre farms around the district mostly produced grass seed and wool. This was due to the need for products that could be sent out of the district without perishing. Sawmills also developed in the district from around the time the railway opened.
Makotuku-Matamau section (4 miles, 22 chains) - opened 23 June 1884. Public pressure, esspecially that from businessmen in Napier, led to the Railways' reluctant decision to open part of the Makotuku-Tahoraite section. This resulted in the creation of the new short lived new railhead at Matamau.
Matamau-Tahoraite section (7 miles, 43 chains) - opened 1 December 1884. This section passes through Dannevirke, although the town was to be bypassed until the terrain suggested this rail route would be the cheaper option. Scandinavians were first settled at Dannevirke in 1872. This town underwent little real development (especially compared to Norsewood) until the railway arrived. As well as being of great benefit to nearby sheep runs, such as those at Oringi and Kaitoke, this railhead allowed large scale sawmilling to develop around the Dannevirke district. Soon the town was prospering, and had earned the name 'Sawdust City'. The timber industry declined in the 1900s and by that time farming had developed around the district.
Tahoraite-Woodville section (15 miles, 10 chains) - opened 22 March 1887. Prior to becoming a railway junction, Woodville had been a passenger coach junction linking Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa and Manawatu. Accordingly, at first the village was known as "The Junction." The first settlers (primarily British) arrived in 1862 and in 1887 it became a borough. This last section was over relatively mild terrain, however, it was competing for funding with the Taranaki line and this lead to a delay. There was also the problem of needing to complete the Manawatu Gorge section in order to go anywhere further.
Woodville-Palmerston North section (17 miles, 21 chains) - opened 9 March 1891. This section passes through the Manawatu Gorge, Ashhurst and Whakarongo, the latter place being the location of the Stoney Creek Scandinavian Block, which was first settled in 1871. The opening of this section, or more specifically the Gorge, was a mega event in its time. Excursion trains travelled from Wanganui and Wellington - combining at Palmerston North - before travelling to Woodville for a brief stop-over. Meanwhile, a train from Napier travelled from Napier to Palmerston North for the same purpose - the two trains crossing at Ashhurst. Originally this section of track was to run the whole way alongside Napier Road between Ashhurst and Whakarongo. It was then to go alongside Stoney Creek Road to a proposed junction at Bunnythorpe [named Mugby Junction!]. For this reason, these two roads are rather wider than necessary. However, the decision was duly made to divert the railway up onto higher ground from near Raukawa Road (perhaps after the 1880 flood), and then in due course to run it directly into Palmerston North.
Woodville-Wellington (115 miles, 79 chains)
Woodville-Mangatainoka section (5 miles, 76 chains) - opened 11 December 1897
Mangatainoka-Pahiatua section (3 miles, 30 chains) - opened 2 August 1897
Pahiatua-Newman section (15 miles, 24 chains) - opened 3 May 1897. Pahiatua was ssettled in 1881. The main street was made very wide to allow for the planned railway, but in time this was laid some distance from the town.
Newman-Eketahuna section (2 miles, 4 chains) - opened 16 March 1896
Eketahuna-Mangamahoe section (6 miles, 15 chains) - opened 8 April 1889. Then called Mellemskov, the town of Eketahuna was first settled by Scandinavians who began arriving in 1872, but it was some time before their allotted land was ready to receive them.
Mangamahoe-Mauriceville section (4 miles, 7 chains) - opened 10 January 1887.
Mauriceville-Masterton section (12 miles, 8 chains) - opened 14 June 1886. Mauriceville was settled by Scandinavians who arrived in 1872, although at first they could not settle on their allotted land, as work on it had not reached a stage where it was not ready to receive them. Prior to settling on their land, these people occupied the 'Scandinavian Camp' created for them at what is now Kopuaranga. This camp is noted as a place of sickness and death.
Masterton-Woodside section (16 miles, 22 chains) - opened 1 November 1880
Woodside-Featherston section (4 miles, 19 chains) - opened 14 May 1880
Featherston-Kaitoke section (17 miles, 48 chains) - opened 12 October 1878
Kaitoke-Upper Hutt section (7 miles, 47 chains) - opened 1 January 1878
Upper Hutt - Silverstream section (3 miles, 35 chains) - opened 1 February 1876
Silverstream-Lower Hutt section (8 miles, 0 chains) - opened 15 December 1875
Lower Hutt-Pipitea section (8 miles, 2 chains) - opened 14 April 1874
Pipitea-Wellington section (0 miles, 47 chains) - opened 1 November 1880
Te Aro Extension (1 mile, 15 chains) - opened 29 March 1893
Foxton - Patea (120 miles, 44 chains), Patea - Waitara (71 miles, 56 chains), Waitara - New Plymouth (11 miles, 13 chains)
Foxton-Palmerston North section (23 miles, 39 chains) - opened 27 April 1876. The railway took tthe place of a wooden tramline over this route that had opened in 1873. This tramway, although less that perfect, helped establish the future city of Palmerston North. Much of the work involved with establishing the tramway and then the railway, was done by Scandinavian immigrants who had been settled on special settlements at either end of Palmerston North (now Awapuni-Longburn and Whakarongo-Kelvin Grove)
Palmerston North-Feilding section (11 miles, 28 chain) - opened 20 October 1876. Feilding was settled by British immigrants brought to the Manchester Block that included Feilding, from 1874. These people came as part of the Emigrants & Colonists' Aid Corporation.
Feilding-Halcombe section (7 miles, 76 chains) - opened 22 April 1878. Halcombe was another Emigrants & Colonists' Aid Corporation settlement, and was settled around the same time as Feilding (1874-6). It was noted for its many settlers who were of German origin, who had been brought to NZ as part of the Vogel Immigration & Public Works scheme with the Scandinavians. During the First World War, considerable ill-feeling existed between the German settlers and the non-German community, despite the German settlers protesting their support for New Zealand and its interests. This culminated in the burning down of the town's Lutheran Church in 1917. Some Scandinavians were also settled in the vicinity.
Halcombe-Marton section (10 miles, 49 chains) - opened 20 May 1878. Marton became the future junction for the North Island Main Trunk Line. It was not a Government town, having been created from a private subdivision in 1866. A German community also became established in the Marton district, although many of its numbers had previously settled in South Australia. They were also targets of ill-feeling during the First World War, although, unlike Halcombe and Rongotea (also in Manawatu), their Lutheran buildings survived the war and its aftermath of ethnic hatred.
Marton-Turakina section (9 miles, 10 chains) - opened 4 February 1878. Turakina is noted for its settlers from the Highlands of Scotland, who arrived in NZ in 1840
Turakina-Aramoho [Wanganui] section (20 miles, 25 chains) - opened 17 May 1877. A branch line to Wanganui (3 miles, 29 chains) was then opened on 21 January 1878.
Aramoho-Kai Iwi section (9 miles, 31 chains) - opened 28 June 1879
Kai Iwi-Waitotara section (13 miles, 2 chains) - opened 20 September 1880
Waitotara-Waverley section (6 miles, 73 chains) - opened 23 March 1881
Waverley-Patea section (8 miles, 31 chains) - opened 28 August 1883
Patea-Manutahi section (8 miles, 57 chains) - opened 28 August 1883
Manutahi-Hawera section (9 miles, 24 chains) - opened 23 March 1885
Hawera-Normanby section (3 miles, 35 chains) - opened 20 October 1881
Normanby-Eltham section (8 miles, 32 chains) - opened 18 June 1881
Eltham-Ngaire section (2 miles, 60 chains) - opened 7 February 1881
Ngaire-Stratford section (3 miles, 20 chains) - opened 27 September 1880
Stratford-Inglewood section (13 miles, 40 chains) - opened 17 December 1879
Inglewood-Sentry Hill section (8 miles, 60 chains) - opened 30 November 1877
Sentry Hill-Waitara section (no entry)
Waitara-New Plymouth section (11 miles, 13 chains) - opened 14 October 1875
New Plymouth-Moturoa section (2 miles, 35 chains) - opened 28 April 1886
Source: Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR) - Annual 'Table of Lengths of Government Lines Authorised, Constructed, and Surveyed up to 31st March (Section D-1, each year). This copy from AJHR, 1898, D-1, p. 89.
Bibliography of (some) sources covering aspects of this topic
Please feel free to remind me of any others you can think of...
Arnold, Rollo, The Farthest Promised Land: English Villagers, New Zealand Immigrants of the 1870s (Wellington, 1981).
Bellamy, A.C., Private Railways in Hawkes Bay (NZ Railway & Locomotive Soc., 1984). A 24 page detailed account of all private lines and steam and diesel locomotives that worked on them, from Oringi to Wairoa.
Burr, Val A., Mosquitoes & Sawdust: A history of Scandinavians in early Palmerston North & surrounding districts (Scandinavian Club of Manawatu, Palmerston North, 1995). Backgrounds the line between Foxton and the Manawatu Gorge in terms of those who helped create it.
Burr, Val, A Time of Transition: Whakarongo School & District twelve decades on (Whakarongo 120th Jubilee Committee, Palmerston North, 1999) Includes the development of the railway between Palmerston North and the Manawatu Gorge.
Cassells, K.R., The Foxton and Wanganui Railway (NZ Railway & Locomotive Society Inc., Wellington, 1984). A comprehensive book on the topic.
Feilding & District Historical Society, Feilding and the Manchester Block - the European settler families: Swamps, sandflies and settlers (FDHS, Feilding, 2000). Written and prepared by Dorothy Pilkington, Dorothy Mingins and John Brebner.
MacGregor, Miriam, Pioneer Trails of Hawkes Bay (Reed, Wellington, 1975).
Mahoney, Paul, From the Station Platform: A historical account of Ormondville Station and district from a railway perspective (Ormondville Rail Preservation Group Inc., 2000). Photos and articles from ORPG's news magazine, The Station Platform.
Orr, Russell, The Hawke's Bay Railway (Southern Press, Wellington, 1974).
Petersen, G.C. Forest Homes: The Story of the Scandinavian Settlements in the Forty Mile Bush, New Zealand (Reed, Wellington, 1956). Mostly on the Mauriceville area.
Playle, F.O., 101 Years of Ormondville (Ormondville Centennial Committee, Ormondville, 1977). A history of Ormondville and district researched by D. Ropiha and F.O. Playle.
Wheeler, Thomas F., All Aboard the train from Napier to Woodville (the author, Havelock North, 1994). Photos and brief descriptions of the stations along this route.
Wright, Jason L., Progress & Prosperity: The Impact of the Napier-Palmerston North Railway line on Southern Waipawa County, 1886-1896 (BA[Hons.] Research Exercise, Massey University, 1999)
