Paeroa - Waihī - Tauranga Railway by A.C. Bellamy

This report was written by Alan C Bellamy when he was the Area Traffic Manager in Tauranga (1978). It is recreated here from a poor photocopy and may still contain some transcription errors. 

It mentions the following people.

• Hon. Mr Hall Jones — Minister of Public Works.
• J. and A. Anderson — named as Messrs J. and A. Anderson Limited, Christchurch contractors.
• W. M. Hales — Engineer in Chief, Public Works Department.
• W. McHay — contractor for Waihi Stationmaster’s house and Waihi station building. Spelt McHay in the scan.
• W. J. Hessell — first Stationmaster at Waihi; transferred from Huntly.
• G. W. Peters — last Stationmaster at Waihi.
• Hon. James McGowan — Acting Minister of Public Works.
• J. G. Coates — Minister of Public Works; also likely the Prime Minister referred to at the 1928 opening, though the opening paragraph only says “the Prime Minister”.
• F. W. Furkett — Engineer in Chief, Public Works Department. Spelt Furkett in the scan.
• Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth — appears as part of the contractor name “Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company Limited.”
• Miss Eileen Dive — daughter of the Mayor of Tauranga; held the ribbon at the opening ceremony.
• Miss Rangihoaia Ngatoho — held the ribbon at the opening ceremony; described as representing “the Maori race.”
• Mrs MacMillan — wife of the member for the district; cut the ribbon.
• The Prime Minister — unnamed in the opening paragraph.
• The Mayor of Tauranga — unnamed; referred to as Eileen Dive’s father.
• The member for the district — unnamed; referred to as Mrs MacMillan’s husband.

SURVEY OF LINE

Reporting in his annual report for Year Ending 31 March 1897, the Minister of Public Works said that instructions had been given for a survey to be made for a line between Paeroa and Waihī. The railway from Hamilton to Paeroa had been opened on 20 December 1895 and the extension to Thames was well on the way to completion.

At this particular time there was agitation for the construction of a network of narrow gauge lines, i.e. 2 foot gauge throughout the country, and the survey was to be for a 3 foot 6 inch gauge line and a two foot gauge line. Fortunately the 2 foot gauge lines fell from favour and none were built. The instructions to the surveyors stated that the line was to be so laid out as to keep the cost as low as possible, due care being taken that the increased working expenses due to steep gradients and sharp curves would not exceed the interest on saving in the cost of construction thus attained. The Engineer was also directed that before locating the terminus of the line near Waihī, he had to make a reconnaissance survey of the country between Waihī and Katikati Harbour so as to determine the best route for a possible extension of the line to Tauranga so that if the line was extended at any time no work would have to be abandoned.

Work on the survey showed that there were no really great difficulties except near the township of Karangahake, there was a very abrupt angle in the gorge and that a considerable tunnel would be required.

At that stage, apart from completing the survey the Government considered that further expenditure in connection with this proposed railway should be held over.

In 1898 the Minister reported that the survey for the line was well in hand and the probable cost of the twelve and a half miles would be £80,000 exclusive of rolling stock. A survey was also carried out to avoid building the tunnel at Karangahake but it interfered so largely with existing roads, water races and other mining works that it was doubtful if any economy would result from its adoption. He also said that considering the present demands for the completion of the lines of railway then authorised he did not think the colony should undertake the construction of this work, especially as there was a probability of it being undertaken by private enterprise.

LINE AUTHORISED

By the following year the Government had a change of heart, private enterprise had offered to undertake the work, there had been great development of mining in the district with a resultant increase of population, they also anticipated further development of the district and that the mining would be of a permanent character. The then Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Mr Hall Jones said that in view of this development it would be inadvisable to allow a private company to make this railway especially as it promised to give a handsome return upon the cost of construction, it was included in the Railway Construction Bill and £6,000 was placed on the estimate so [text at foot of page missing in scan].

CONSTRUCTION COMMENCED TO Waihī

Work commenced in 1900 and pressed on vigorously so that by September of that year the formation as far as the tunnel was well advanced and the approach cutting to the tunnel was being excavated.

Reporting on progress in October 1901 the Minister of Public Works said that plate laying from the junction at Paeroa was in hand as far as Karangahake and that excavation of the long tunnel was making good progress. At the West End the top heading was in 741 feet, the bottom heading 675 feet and it was bricked 359 feet, at the East End, the top heading was in 469 feet and the bottom heading 457 feet, an air shaft had also been sunk at the west end of the tunnel about 600 feet from the mouth.

A contract had also been let for the combined bridge over the Ohinemuri River to Messrs J. and A. Anderson Limited of Christchurch for £8771.

Mr W. M. Hales, the Engineer in Chief of the Public Works Department, said that by July 1902 rails had been laid to the Karangahake Station yard but heavy rains had caused some slips and washouts. He estimated in July 1903 that there was still another 18 months work before the tunnel would be completed.

In his annual report for 1904 the Minister said that goods traffic had been carried to Karangahake since the beginning of the year and that considerable freight had been carried over it. Messrs J. and A. Anderson had also been let the contract for the second and third crossing of the Ohinemuri River. Work was still proceeding on the tunnel and tenders had been called for the Waikino Station buildings. He also said that expenditure on the line was now being charged to a separate account established under legislation of last session. The combined road and railway bridge over the first crossing of the Ohinemuri River was finished in October 1903. A contract for the Stationmaster's house at Waihī had been let to a Mr W. McHay on 16 April 1904 for £496.10s.0d and it was completed on September 30, 1904. The headings of the Karangahake Tunnel met in September 1904 and it was completed by the end of January 1905 with the result that rails could then be laid up to 9 mile 50 chains from the junction and it was anticipated that this work would be finished to Waihī about September 1905. The Station building at Waihī was also built by Mr W. McHay. It was completed on 3 October 1905 for the sum of £1764.3s.6d.

The coal for the Waihī mine was carried by the railway from 3 April 1905.

The line was opened to Waihī on 9 November 1905 although a considerable quantity of goods traffic was carried over the line before it was formally opened.

The first Stationmaster at Waihī was Mr W. J. Hessell who transferred from Huntly. The last Stationmaster at Waihī was Mr G. W. Peters.

Waihī - TAURANGA

The original proposal to connect Tauranga by rail was via Mamaku and Te Puke but with the completion of the line to Waihī strong representations were made to the Government regarding an alternative line via Waihī.

In 1907 the then Acting Minister of Public Works, the Hon. James McGowan, considered there was a good deal to be said in favour of this route and he agreed to a trial survey being made so that a comparison could be made with the Mamaku Te Puke route.

Reporting in 1908 the Minister said a strong party was then engaged upon the survey. It had been completed between Waihī and Katikati and an exploration had been carried on for several miles beyond, however as the latter portion of the route was not of a very easy character it would be sometime before the survey was completed and until then it would be impossible to make any comparisons between that route and the alternative line via Mamaku and Te Puke.

The Government was however strongly impressed with the necessity of constructing a railway to connect the Bay of Plenty district with the Auckland railway system and had definitely decided to ask for the authorisation of the line. It would be impossible to do so that year as the law required that Authorising Acts shall define the route of the railway and the two termini thereof, and it was not possible to do this until a decision was arrived at as to the particular line to be adopted.

In addition to the two routes already mentioned a third had been suggested to leave the existing railway either at Morrinsville or Ōkoroire, or somewhere between these places. Each route was to be carefully examined and if necessary fully surveyed, with a view of a definite decision being arrived at next session when a Bill to authorise the construction of the line would be brought down.

The survey was completed from Waihī to Tauranga and as far as Matatā by 1909 and the Minister said that the railway through the Bay of Plenty would eventually connect Auckland with Gisborne.

The survey made over the Kaimāī Saddle for the East Coast - Waikato Railway had demonstrated that the saddle was unsuitable as a route being 1,423 feet high with an abrupt and unworkable descent on the Waikato side, the country along the route was also much broken by ravines and deep gullies and gave steep grades on the Tauranga side.

The Railway Authorisation Act of 1911 made provision for the construction of the line between Waihī and Tauranga and it was proposed to put in hand a section of the line between Waihī and Athenree and also a westerly extension of the line already in course of construction as far as the right bank of the Wairoa River, a length of about eight miles.

Construction of the section from Waihī to Athenree, a distance of nine miles was commenced on 11 March 1912, [line at foot of page partly lost] as there was some heavy rock work on this section and it was not likely to be revenue producing for quite a considerable period the Government had decided to suspend operations for the present.

In May 1914 construction work was recommenced, the first portion by co-operative labour and the balance under five small contracts.

The Railways Authorisation Act of 1915 included the section from Athenree to the end of the authorised length at the Wairoa River.

Work continued on the Waihī - Athenree section despite the onslaught of the First World War and in 1915 the two piers of the Victoria Street railway bridge at Waihī had been built and the road lowered the full width to give the required headroom. A contract for the manufacture of the steel work for bridges on this section was in hand in Auckland.

In March 1917 work on the section closed down as the Engineer in local charge joined the Expeditionary Forces and sufficient numbers of men were not available to continue economically. Work however resumed again in January 1918 with a small amount of labour and by July 1919 foundations for the Waimatā Bridge had been excavated and two platelayers' cottages had been built at Athenree Station.

In March 1919 work also commenced on the line from Tauranga westwards and stone spalls were placed as pitching along the Strand harbour front, by 1920 construction was well under way. In May of that year the sinking of cylinders at Pier E of the Tauranga Bridge was completed and other piers were under construction.

Work was commenced in September 1919 on the Katikati Section, at that time work was well in hand on the Athenree section, the station yard having been formed.

By 1921 practically all earthworks on the Athenree section from Waihī had been completed, although there were still several bridges to erect. On the section from Athenree to Katikati earthwork had proceeded at a satisfactory rate, land plan surveys to the 12 mile peg had been completed. The Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Public Works at the time, said it was hoped that finances would permit of the completion of the line to Katikati as it may be necessary in order to provide money for more urgent work to discontinue work temporarily.

On the section from Tauranga to the Wairoa River formation was in progress over a length of four miles and three platelayers' cottages were in the course of erection at Tauranga Station. Work however was practically suspended on this section in February 1922 although the Stationmaster's house had been completed.

Work was however proceeding steadily between Waihī and Athenree, the telephone line had been erected and construction of five bridges over the Waiau Creek were in hand and abutments for the subway at 5 mile 62 chain were completed. Arrangements had also been made for the steel superstructures for all bridges on the section.

By 1922 the formation of the Katikati section was in progress to the 14 mile peg from Waihī and the permanent survey completed to the Wairoa River.

Mr F. W. Furkett, Engineer in Chief of the Public Works Department, in a report to his Minister in 1923 gave full details of the work in progress. At the Victoria Street Bridge Waihī, two pile piers had been completed and seven spans of 22 foot girders reinforced and placed in position, the Mangatoitoi Bridge, twelve spans of 22 foot girders reinforced and one 55 foot steel span and one stringer span had been erected. Adams Street subway two concrete piers had been completed and timber had been delivered for two pile piers. The fabrication of all steel for the bridges on the section Waihī to Athenree had been carried out in the Mount Workshop at Tauranga. From Athenree to Waihī work had continued, a steam shovel, two locomotives, bridge girders etc had been landed at Tuapiro having been delivered to the site by water transport.

The Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Public Works, in his report to Parliament in 1923 said that arrangements had been made for the invitation of tenders for construction of the Aongatete, Apata and Te Puna section of the Tauranga westwards railway, a total length of 16 mile 10 chain. He said the reasons for this step were two fold. First it was always desirable that a construction department such as the Public Works Department, should have the opportunity from time to time of proving that its own methods of construction and its costs of carrying out work are satisfactory, secondly the creation of an equipment of mechanical apparatus and plant to enable every work to be taken in hand under concentration methods would involve the purchase of an amount of equipment which could not be continuously used.

The letting of a contract to a big construction company would avoid the necessity of the Government providing the plant as it would have to have done if it had undertaken the work itself. Furthermore, it was highly desirable that the 50 miles of completed railway from Tauranga eastwards on which traffic was at that time being run by the Public Works Department, should be connected with the North Island railway system at an early a date as possible and a satisfactory contract for the 16 mile section in question should it was hoped enable that to be done. The Government would not of course consider letting of a contract unless the best tender received was entirely satisfactory both as to price and guarantee of performance of contract.

World wide tenders were called and on 21 March 1924 the contract for the construction of the 16 mile 10 chain section was let to Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Company Limited. An immediate start was made with this work, within a few months 120 men were at work and it was anticipated that when the works were in full swing four hundred to five hundred men would be employed.

The company ordered the following list of plant:-

6 Steam Shovels
7 Small Locomotives
200 Trucks
24 Ballast Wagons
2 Stone Crushers
1 Cableway Excavator
1 10 ton Crane for Bridge Work
2 50 ft Pile Driving Outfits Equipped with Steam Hammers
2 Launches
1 Towing Scow
A number of punts

Meanwhile the Public Works Department were continuing with the Athenree and Katikati sections, platelaying had been commenced from Waihī and had progressed about 6¼ miles and tenders had been called for the station buildings at Athenree.

On the Katikati Section formation work was completed up to the 14 mile peg from Waihī with the exception of one cutting at 11 mile 60 chains, one of the heaviest pieces of work on this section was the formation of the Tahawai Station yard which was carried out with the aid of a steam shovel. Two platelayers' cottages had been erected at Katikati Station.

At Tauranga Station yard the goods shed, platform and loading bank had been erected and two sidings and eight sets of points laid. The bridge over the harbour was completed in April 1924 and this enabled the main line to be laid into the Tauranga yard which allowed that portion of the section to be opened in June for goods traffic from the Awakeri - Mount Maunganui Area.

Reporting to Parliament in 1925 the Hon. J. G. Coates said that the Department had been running goods trains from Waihī to Athenree from December 1924 and that the Public Works office had been shifted from Waihī to Katikati.

A goods shed, loading bank and shelter shed had been built at Waimatā. Progress was still being made on the Katikati section, a platform, loading bank and temporary station had been completed at Tahawai and goods traffic commenced running to that point on 1 March 1925, this temporary station served the Katikati district and traffic had shown satisfactory results.

Meanwhile Messrs Armstrong Whitworth and Company were pressing on with their section of the line, they had excavated the Aongatete Station yard, erected overbridges, excavated cuttings and erected a service wharf at Mount Maunganui for their equipment and supplies. They were driving piles for the Wainui Bridge and erecting the Mangawhai Bridge. Their contract provided for 1,229,000 cubic yards of earthwork, and by June 1925 they had removed 345,000 cubic yards.

By 1926 work on the whole section from Tauranga to Athenree was in full swing both by the Public Works Department and Messrs Armstrong Whitworth and Company. At Aongatete the station yard and buildings were almost complete, a bridge of five 30 foot plate girder spans on pile piers had been erected over Whatakao stream, but bank subsidences were causing considerable trouble at the Wainui Bridge. Work on the Apata yard was well in hand and four platelayers' cottages had been built. Goods shed, stockyards and station buildings were nearing completion at Ōmokoroa and being erected at Te Puna. The Wairoa River bridge consisting of thirteen 60 foot and two 30 foot spans on concrete piers supported on reinforced concrete piles was commenced in June 1925 and finished by the November. The spans which were fabricated at Mount Maunganui were loaded on special skidways and floated into position by barges using the rise and fall of the tide to load and place the girders. This method was both economical and speedy, the placing of twelve 60 foot girders taking only 12 days.

The section from the Strand to the Wairoa River bridge had been practically completed. The engine shed at Tauranga had been completed and goods traffic had commenced to be run through to the Wairoa River from January 1926.

Messrs Armstrong Whitworth and Company Limited were supposed to have completed their contract by 27 March 1927 but owing to a great deal of trouble and extra work caused through embankments on soft foundations subsiding, the company were behind and in June 1927 only one third of the ballasting had been completed, although all the platelaying and station buildings were done. Although they were behind on their contract date I think it can be said that the Company had done their utmost to complete the line by the due date.

They had considerable trouble at the Wainui Bridge, the ground subsided and other movements took place as the railway bank was first run out and they so seriously damaged the pier ends that they had to be abandoned, and new piers built after the reconstruction bank stabilised. The station buildings at Katikati and Apata were completed. The rail had also been connected through with a necessary temporary detour at the Wainui Bridge site.

OPENING OF LINE

The Public Works Department handed the Waihī - Tahawai section over to the N.Z. Railways on 2 March 1927. On 19 March 1928 the contractors completed their contract and handed that portion of the line over to the Public Works Department on 30 May. On 28 March 1928 however, the Right Hon. the Prime Minister officially opened the Tahawai and Tauranga section of line and a tri weekly through passenger service was inaugurated between Tāneatua and Auckland. The opening ceremony was held on the Strand, thousands of people from many parts of the Bay of Plenty and hundreds of visitors from further afield began to assemble on the Strand at 9 o'clock and two hours later there were quite some fifteen thousand assembled and the whole waterfront from historic Monmouth Redoubt to the new railway bridge across the harbour was densely thronged. The town was wonderfully decorated with greenery.

Trains from Waihī and Tāneatua brought thousands of visitors. Soon after eleven the official train from Waihī arrived bringing the Prime Minister. It advanced to the ribbon which was held by Miss Eileen Dive, daughter of the Mayor of Tauranga and Miss Rangihoaia Ngatoho representing the Māori race. The ribbon was cut by Mrs MacMillan, wife of the member for the district.

The N.Z. Railways Department officially took over the line from the Public Works Department on 16 June 1928 and a daily passenger and goods service was established, thus Tauranga had a direct connection with the rest of the North Island railway system.

The development of the Pulp and Paper industry placed a considerable strain on the Paeroa - Tauranga route as it was asked to carry traffic for which it was never designed and by 1960 pressure was being brought to bear for the construction of a tunnel.

COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY

In 1962 the Government set up a Commission to inquire into Improved Access by Land to the Port of Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty. The Commission reported in February 1963 and recommended the construction of the Kaimāī Deviation.

Of the Paeroa - Apata line they had the following to say:-

"On completion of the Kaimāī Deviation the existing line from Paeroa to Apata would cease to function as the connection between the Bay of Plenty and the North Island railway system and its only remaining value would be to service the towns of Waihī and Katikati. Both towns are reasonably close by good roads to other stations on the railway system and are served by direct goods road route services operating to Auckland. Because of the limited value of this Paeroa - Apata line, and its costly operation as a branch, it would be closed."

Your Commission supports this recommendation and so thus the death knell of this portion of the line was sounded.

The Government approved the construction of the deviation in 1964 and estimated six years to completion, however this has stretched out another eight years but at 4.0 p.m. on 12 September 1978 the line will be closed and the only trains it will hear from then on will be those used to demolish the line.

STATIONS ALREADY CLOSED ON THIS LINE:-

Station        Date
Mackaytown    28 July 1940
Karangahake   22 June 1964
Waikino       29 May 1961
Waimatā       7 June 1970
Athenree      2 November 1969
Pahoia        21 April 1963
Ōtūmoetai     15 September 1974

PASSENGER SERVICES

In February 1959 the steam passenger express trains over this line were replaced by 88 seater articulated railcars, which then ran only to Te Puke. These continued until 11 September 1967 when these were replaced by N.Z. Railway Road Service coaches.

A. C. BELLAMY,
Area Traffic Manager
TAURANGA.

9 August 1978