Te_Kumi_railway_station
Te Kumi railway station
Defunct railway station in New Zealand
Te Kumi railway station was a station on the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand.[2][3] The railway had been delayed by Māori opposition to it entering King Country[4] and Te Kumi was one of the last places where such resistance was shown.[5]
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After being arrested at Parihaka in 1879, Ngāti Kinohaku were returned to Te Kumu, where they tried to establish a similar settlement.[6] In March 1883, Charles Wilson Hursthouse was held at Te Kumi by Te Mahuki, whilst surveying for the railway. Te Mahuki posed for a photograph at Te Kumi in 1885,[7] after serving a year of hard labour.[8]
Te Kumi railway station opened with the section from Ōtorohanga to Te Kuiti, for which Coates & Metcalfe were the contractors,[9] having started work in 1886.[10] It opened on 2 September 1887 for goods[11] and three months later for passengers,[12] initially with two trains a week.[13] £122.1s was spent on creating a shelter shed and platform for a flag station at Te Kumi. Urinals were added in 1897, a 22 ft (6.7 m) by 14 ft (4.3 m) goods shed in 1899[14] (though possibly in use from 1897),[15] cattle and sheep yards and a passing loop for 22 wagons, in 1905, and a loading bank in 1911. Railway houses were built in 1920.[14]
Superfine Lime Siding was 2.94 km (1.83 mi) to the north.[16] It was in use from at least 1937[17] to 1987.[14] There was no sign of a siding by 2001,[18] though a caption on Flickr in 2016 mentioned lime transported in containers by rail from the works,[19] now owned by Omya.[20]
Te Kuiti Lime siding was 1.31 km (0.81 mi) to the south.[16] The lime and aggregates quarry was rebuilt in 1912 after a fire.[21]
Just a single track and a sub station now remain.[22]
