The coming of
the railway
As written for the
community newsletter by Sue Allison
The coming of the
railway caused a lot of angst in the Waimakariri district.
The Christchurch-Ferrymead
line, the first railway in New Zealand, opened in 1863. Work had already
started on the Lyttelton tunnel and William Moorhouse, champion of this
huge undertaking, envisaged links with the southern and northern
extremities of the Canterbury province, all connected to the port of
Lyttelton.
Moorhouse had wooed
the Kaiapoi electors with talk of a northern railway as early as the
late 1850s and the settlements north of the Waimakariri were abuzz with
excitement. A meeting called for the inclusion of Rangiora on the
proposed line, and Oxford settlers drew up a petition asking for a
tramway from the great timber source, Harewood Forest, to the nearest
point on the main line.
However, a map of the
proposed new northern line showed it to be leaving Christchurch by way
of the eastern suburbs and following the northern road from Marshlands
to Leithfield, passing over both branches of the Kowai river above
Amberley.
This route caused much
controversy and was the subject of an investigation by the Canterbury
Railway and Bridge Commission in 1864. All members agreed the route
should leave via the western suburbs and cross the Ashley at Waikuku,
its narrowest point. But they split over the route from Papanui to the
Ashley. Some favored a line crossing the Waimakariri near Jackson’s old
ferry, the line then traversing the Mandeville swamps, cutting across
the Rangiora-Woodend road and on to the Waikuku crossing. Others
favoured a coastal route through Woodend to Waikuku.
The coastal line
looked to be holding sway, despite arguments that the Eyre and
Mandeville districts would be left isolated. Then in 1864, Parliament
passed a railway bill which favoured the western route and gave
authority to purchase the required land.
However, it soon
became apparent that the government had pigeon-holed all plans for a
northern line, claiming Kaiapoi Island would not survive repeated floods
and track maintenance would be an on-going problem. (The Waimakariri
river split near Clarkville and one branch flowed northwards behind
Kaiapoi settlement to join the Cam river about where the motorway now
crosses.)
There followed seven
years of deputations and petitions, with heated public meetings in
woolsheds and schoolrooms throughout the district. Advocates for
northward development were lead by Marmaduke Dixon, William Maskell,
James Wylde and John Evans Brown. The settlers resented the government
pouring money into the southern link with Timaru while the northern
districts were struggling. By 1869, more than half the original land
purchasers beyond the Waimakariri had moved away, either ruined or in
search of better security.
In 1869, the
government finally set aside money for the northern route and authorized
the purchase of the land. Again, there was confusion and fiery promotion
of a variety of branch lines. Again the woolsheds and classrooms
resounded with heated debates, this time between neighbouring
communities afraid their settlements would not enjoy the benefits of
rail communication.
Kaiapoi was by now a
flourishing mercantile town, and J.T.Peacock, who among other things
owned the Mandeville flour mill, presented to the Provincial Council a
scheme by which Kaiapoi would be the terminus for two lines, one serving
the Waipara-Hurunui area and the other the Eyre-Oxford-Malvern
districts. But the politicians and merchants of Christchurch were wary
of Kaiapoi and her port prospering at their expense and vetoed the idea.
Bitter public lobbying surrounded the decision to build the line through
Rangiora instead of Woodend, but eventually Rangiora was chosen.
The
railway crossed the Waimakariri in 1872 and was opened to Kaiapoi on
April 29 and Rangiora on November 6. The official party aboard the
train, which included the provincial Superintentendent, William
Rolleston, and members of the Provincial and City Councils, were
treated to a luncheon at the Mechanics’ Institute.
But
Rangiora’s celebrations, when the line reached their town six months
later, far outshone the Kaiapoi welcome. A public holiday was proclaimed
on November 6, 1872, and all the townspeople gathered for the train’s
arrival. There was a procession with bands, two great food marquees,
dancing and races for the children.
But the
western districts were still isolated, and there was much lobbying for
branch lines, especially to connect the coastal route with the booming
timber mills of the Oxford area. Dray loads were taking up to two days
to reach Kaiapoi from Oxford’s Harewood Forest.
A plan for an Oxford-Rangiora
branch line had already been approved, and the Eyre settlers asked why
it could not pass through their district. They attempted to draw the
proposed Rangiora-Oxford line further their way, agitating for a line
which would pass through the centre of the Waimakariri-Ashley area with
its junction at Flaxton. This, they argued, would satisfy everybody and
open up the thousands of acres of lightly-grazed country on both banks
of the Eyre.
But
Rangiora refused to give in, maintaining that the most heavily populated
areas should be first served.
For
some reason, possibly because they thought there may be enough money for
two lines, the Eyre settlers abandoned their idea of a central line and
substituted a plan for one which would include stations at Ohoka,
Mandeville, and West Eyreton. This direct challenge to Rangiora was
followed by a spate of hostile meetings and a bitter struggle between
the Rangiora businessmen and farmers, led by Henry Blackett, and the
Eyre settlers, led by John Peacock and John Brown.
In
one incident, Messrs Peacock and Brown were holding a meeting at
Mandeville in July 1871, when Henry Blackett arrived with a band of his
supporters, and was soon contesting every point. Tempers became frayed,
and in the middle of the uproar the Rangiora men started moving
resolutions in favour of their line. While this was going on coach loads
of Rangiora supporters were still galloping around the country looking
for the hall, but they were not needed, because the meeting had already
been abandoned.
Another meeting was called quietly at West Eyreton to rally support from
Cust and Oxford. But Blackett heard of it, gathered his supporters,
hired every coach available in the town and set out for West Eyreton.
Seeing the cavalcade approaching through the moonlit summer night, the
conveners of the meeting stopped proceedings, locked the schoolroom and
dispersed. Not to be thwarted, Blackett's men climbed through the
windows, reopened the meeting and passed resolutions by the light of
their carriage lamps. A rider was despatched to Christchurch, and the
people read in the newspapers next day that a West Eyreton meeting had
decided by an overwhelming majority that the Rangiora-Oxford line would
best suit the requirements of the northern districts.
These
obstructive tactics may have been to Eyre's advantage, for the
Government listened attentively to its case as presented by John
Peacock, who at that time was Member of Parliment for Lyttelton. A
resurvey of the routes was made in May 1872, after which it was decided
to construct two lines, 10km apart, although the line would initially
end at West Eyreton, rather than carrying on all the way to Oxford.
The
first train left West Eyreton for Kaiapoi on December 27, 1875. On
February 1, 1878, the West Eyreton-Oxford section finally opened.
Ohoka
benefited economically and socially from the advent of the railway. The
train in the area became nicknamed the Ohoka Punt. Due to the swampy
nature of the land, the train gave the appearance that it was riding on
water, sending spray out both sides as it traveled across the area.
By
1895, by which time fires had destroyed most of the Harewood Forest
milling ande motorised transport had made its debut, traffic was light.
A 1930
Royal Commission recommended that the Eyreton branch close unless the
settlers themselves raised the necessary funds to maintain it. This did
not happen and on February 9, 1931, the branch was closed to passenger
services and the connecting link between Bennetts Junction and
Horrelville was also closed.
By 1950,
the Kaiapoi to West Eyreton branch was losing money, with only two goods
trains operating each way weekly. The flourmill at Wetheral (Evans Mill)
generated some traffic for the line, but wagons that were delivered on a
Thursday had to wait until the following Tuesday to be loaded. The
Horrelville-Wetherell section was closed on May 26, 1954.
A 5km
spur off the main line carried on serving Evans Mill until the early
1960s. The mill was closed in 1978 and demolished in 1980.
Little
remains today of the line. On Mill Road, a siding to Isaac Wilson’s
flourmill was built in 1876 (Wilson’s Siding), and is marked now by a
Historic Places Trust plaque.
Sources:
Churchman, Geoffrey B. The railways of New Zealand : a journey
through history
Hawkins, D. N. Beyond the Waimakariri
Leitch, David and Scott, Brian. Exploring New Zealand’s Ghost
Railways
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