Mangapehi railway station facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mangapehi railway station
Mangapehi station in 2018
Location	New Zealand
Coordinates	38°31′01″S 175°18′28″E / 38.516878°S 175.307722°E / -38.516878; 175.307722
Elevation	285 m (935 ft)
Line(s)	North Island Main Trunk
Distance	Wellington 449.47 km (279.29 mi)
History
Opened	1 April 1901
Closed	Passenger after Sep 1980 Goods 31 March 1987
Rebuilt	8 January 1950
Electrified	June 1988
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station Kopaki Line open, station closed   North Island Main Trunk KiwiRail   Poro-O-Tarao Line open, station closed

Mangapehi (sometimes called Mangapeehi) was a small train station in New Zealand. It was located on the main railway line called the North Island Main Trunk. This station was in the Waitomo District. It was about 5.9 kilometers (3.7 miles) north of Poro-O-Tarao and 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) south of Kopaki.

A company called Ellis & Burnand had a large sawmill in Mangapehi. This sawmill operated from 1901 until 1968.

Moving the Station

In 1950, the Mangapehi train station was moved. It was shifted almost a kilometer (about half a mile) north. This move cost about £13,405 at the time.

That year, the station was very busy. About 23,636 passengers used the station. There were also four staff members working there. The station helped transport a lot of goods. This included 148,093 board feet of timber (wood) and 28,633 sheep and pigs. The station earned £3,256 from passenger tickets and £85,473 from moving freight.

The Bush Tramway

A special railway, called a tramway, was built into the nearby forest (or "bush"). This tramway was built by the Ellis & Burnand company. It was used to carry logs from the forest to the sawmill.

• In 1903, the tramway was about 11 miles (18 km) long.
• It was extended in 1904.
• By 1909, it was over 14 miles (23 km) long. Building it was expensive, costing over £1,000 for each mile.
• In 1922, it was slightly longer, about 15 miles (24 km).
• By 1939, there were over 26 miles (42 km) of tramway tracks.
• When trucks started being used more in the 1950s, the tramway was about 58 kilometers (36 miles) long.

The tramway had very steep slopes, some as steep as 1 in 15. This meant special trains were needed. From 1905, geared Climax locomotives were used. These powerful engines replaced horses that had pulled logs on wooden rails. The tramway also connected the station to the coal mines near Maniaiti / Benneydale.

One of the Climax locomotives from 1904 is now in the Tokomaru Steam Engine Museum. It stopped working in 1954. Another Climax engine from Ellis & Burnand's Manunui tramway briefly joined it.

Coal from the Mangapehi mine was also transported using this line. This happened between 1936 and 1952.

Gallery

• 

  Mangapehi railway station and Ellis and Burnand sawmill before 1930

• 

  "Climax" locomotive at Mangapehi, in 1920 on Ellis & Burnand tramway.

• 

  Mangapehi railway station and settlement in 1920