Ormondville

In 1882 trains were flagged down at Ormondville, but not at Kopua

Ormondville railway station, on the Palmerston North–Gisborne line, opened on 9 August 1880, closed to goods on 31 August 1985 and the last regular passenger train was the Bay Express on 7 October 2001.[25] The station, goods shed and sidings remain[26] and it has been protected by a Category 2 listing since 7 April 1983.[27] Since 1986 it has been maintained by Ormondville Rail Preservation Group and offers beds for tourists.[28]

In 1878[29] about 100 navvies were working on the 5 mi 22 ch (8.5 km) Makotuku extension of the line from Napier and Spit to Kopua.[30] The work had been let out in small contracts to settlers from Danevirke, Makaretu, Norsewood and Ormondville.[31] It included 3 large viaducts (Kopua, Ormondville and Makotuku) over the Manawatū River and its tributaries.[32] Work was delayed by subsidence near Kopua;[33] it had been planned to complete the extension by 29 July 1879. There was no formal opening of this section, which was delayed by a couple of days by a slip.[34]

Originally it wasn't clear which of the settlements in the Seventy Mile bush would develop enough to justify a station. In 1878 there was still doubt that Ormondville would have one.[35] A station and water supply were planned in 1879.[32] Initially Ormondville wasn't always shown in timetables,[36][37] but from 27 June 1881 it became a flag station, with 2 trains a day each way.[38] From April 1882 it was no longer shown as a flag station.[39] It was shown in 1891 still with 2 trains a day.[40] By 1897 it had 3 trains a day.[41] In 1910 it took over 7 hours from Wellington,[42] but by the 1940s the journey was 4[43] to 5 hours.[44] By 1981 the Endeavour took about 3½ hours,[45] as did the Bay Express.[46]

Initially the station would have been very spartan, as it wasn't until August 1880 that authority was sought for furnishing it and in 1882 there was negotiation over whether Public Works or NZR would pay for a ladies waiting room. There was a post office at the station from 1883 to 1914 and in 1891,[32] when the platform length was doubled,[47] consideration was given to providing refreshment rooms. By 1896[32] there was a 5th class station (12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) x 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m)), with office and ladies rooms, waiting lobby,[48] platform, cart access, stationmaster's house, a 30 ft (9.1 m) x 20 ft (6.1 m) goods shed (extended to 60 ft (18 m) by 1906), urinals and a passing loop for 14 wagons. In 1898 the loop was for 20 wagons and it was further lengthened in 1925 for 59 wagons. Cattle yards were added in 1898, lit in 1913[32] and extended in 1908[49] and 1920.[50] A verandah was added in 1901.[51] Railway houses were added in 1919, 1927 and 1938. By 1926 the platform was 210 ft (64 m) long, with 15 ft (4.6 m) ramps and extended 50 ft (15 m) in 1927. In 1959 a verandah was added to the goods shed to protect dairy goods and the loading bank was extended in 1965.[32]

In the 1880s and 90s there were sawmills with tramways to their mills and the railway. In 1881 Alfred Levy & W W Gundrie applied for a tramway across the road at Ormondville station. Samuel Baines Firth took over one of Gundrie's mills[52] and had a tramway from 1882 to 1884.[53] G Grant applied for a tramway in 1886[32] and had one hauling timber from before[54] 1889[55] to 1891.[32]

Ormondville was among the lower traffic stations on the line. For example, in 1923 it sold 8,138 tickets, though it was among the larger stations in its export of 111,168 sheep and pigs.[56] In 1933 there was a bus link to Te Uri, towards the coast.[57]

Ormondville Viaduct in snow in 1923

Ormondville Viaduct about 1880

Ormondville Viaduct (bridge 156)[59] is 281 m (922 ft) long and 39 m (128 ft) above the Mangarangiora Stream.[60] The original timber (probably totara)[35] truss viaduct was built between 1878[61] and 1880 by Proudfoot and Angus Mackay[62] (who built the bridge at Clive[63] and who, in 1892,[64] was the first Mayor of Dannevirke).[65] It was 618 ft (188 m) long, 96 ft (29 m) above the stream and used 404,000 ft (123,000 m) of timber, and 20 tons of iron, in 21 x 30 ft (9.1 m) spans, 1 x 11 ft (3.4 m) and 1 x 6 ft (1.8 m). The contract for this and two neighbouring bridges was for £16,758,[66] or £15,195 1s 8d.[67]

J & A Anderson & Co of Christchurch won a tender for a wrought iron replacement on 16 November 1904 and completed the work with a ceremonial driving of the last rivet on 20 October 1906.[68] In the same era Andersons also rebuilt Kopua (1895), Makotuku (1898), Matamau (1899), Mangatera (1900) and Makatote (1908) viaducts.[69] There are 6 large viaducts on the 24.57 km (15.27 mi) between Kopua and Dannevirke, including Makotuku Viaduct, between Ormondville and Makotuku, which is 128 m (420 ft) long and 26 m (85 ft) high,[70] over Makotuku Stream, a tributary of the Manawatū River.[71] There was a minor fire on the viaduct on 1 February 1931.[72]

Chimneys in Ormondville fell in the 1904 earthquake[73] and after the 1931 quakes the viaduct was closed for repairs[74] for a week in 1932.[75] and then a washout occurred about a month later, after a new approach had been built. The bank approaching the viaduct also subsided slightly in a 1934 quake[76] and again in 1961.[77] One of the piers cracked by the 1931 quake was replaced in 1941.[78] The Bay Express was stopped on the viaduct during the Weber earthquake in 1990[79][80] and a freight train during the 2014 Eketahuna earthquake.[81] In 1990 the track at the northern end of the viaduct was left unsupported.[82] Strengthening of the viaduct was in a 3-year plan announced in 2021.[83]