Mercer Railway Station

Mercer Railway Station

Location Mercer
New Zealand
Coordinates 37°16′39″S 175°02′52″E / 37.27750°S 175.04778°E / -37.27750; 175.04778Coordinates: 37°16′39″S 175°02′52″E / 37.27750°S 175.04778°E / -37.27750; 175.04778
Owned by KiwiRail Network
Line(s) North Island Main Trunk
Tracks double track from 11 November 1951[1]
History
Opened 20 May 1875
Closed 1986

Mercer railway station in Mercer, New Zealand, is 72 km from Auckland and 609 km from Wellington on the North Island Main Trunk line. It opened on 20 May 1875 and was closed to passengers about 1970 and to goods in the 1990s. It burnt down in 1879[2] and also in 1900.[3] Until 1958 it was the first refreshment stop south of Auckland.[4]

History

The line was extended to Mercer on 20 May 1875, though the pioneer British contractors, John Brogden & Sons, ran an excursion train the day before. The New Zealand Herald said, "This will be a busy station for some time to come, it being the terminus." It described the route as crossing Mangatawhiri swamp, then running beside the South Road, with a short branch line being constructed to connect with the Waikato Steam Navigation Company's boats. It said the station and other buildings were still being built.[5] 'Some time to come' ended just over 2 years later, when the line was extended to Ngaruawahia on 13 August 1877.

The service began with two trains per day each way between Auckland and Mercer taking 2hrs 50mins.[6] The station was unfinished when the railway opened.[7]

An 1880 advert for reopening of the refreshment rooms said trains waited 20 minutes.[8]

In 1902 the newly rebuilt station was described as, "a long wood and iron building, which contains a large refreshment room and bar, ladies' room, public room, booking office, stationmaster's room, and post and telegraph department. There is also a large engine shed, besides a pump house and coalshed, and there are eight cottages in the immediate vicinity", with 9 staff - stationmaster, porter, cadet, 2 engine drivers, 2 firemen, and 2 greasers.[9]

Until New Zealand Railways took over in 1917,[10] the refreshment rooms were managed by the Mercer Railway Hotel, opposite the station. The hotel was rebuilt in 1898, with 15 bedrooms, 3 sitting rooms and a 50-seat dining room.[9] The refreshment rooms gained importance when dining cars on main trunk expresses were removed as a wartime measure.[11]

The refreshment rooms became the target of poet A.R.D Fairburn's witty tongue with this very famous quip.

"The thought occurs to those who are entrained: The squalid tea of Mercer is not strained."[12]

Accidents

An engine cleaner died in 1899 after trying to jump onto a moving engine.[13]

A Wellington to Auckland "Limited" express derailed on 28 October 1940 killing the driver and fireman and injuring 12 passengers. An estimate put the speed at 75 mph (though some at the inquiry gave evidence of normal speed)[14] on the 30 mph 8-chain radius curve, just south of the station, near the former 304m tunnel opened out in 1936.[15] The engine, K900,[16] tipped on its side and was overrun by six carriages.[17] The curve has been greatly eased in the 2006 Mercer to Long Swamp Expressway 4-laning of 12 km of SH1, which included this 1 km of rail deviation.[18]

Another derailment at Mercer was on 3 September 2013, when a freight train blocked both the road and railway.[19]

Future services

In 2011 a feasibility report on reinstating passenger services said a station with a platform 155m long and 750mm high for 6-car trains would cost $4m. The proposal was shelved. It is believed by some that the figure is overly inflated to kill off the proposal.[20]

External links

Photos

Map

References

  1. ↑ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (4th ed.). Exeter: Quail Map Co. 1993. p. 4. ISBN 0 900609 92 3.
  2. ↑ Papers Past Hawke's Bay Herald, 20 May 1879
  3. ↑ Papers Past NZ Herald 8 Feb 1901
  4. ↑ Te Ara - Waikato Heads to Meremere
  5. ↑ New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4217, 20 May 1875, Page 3: THE AUCKLAND AND MERCER RAILWAY
  6. ↑ "Untitled". New Zealand Herald. 1875-05-21. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  7. ↑ "The Auckland And Mercer Railway.". New Zealand Herald. 1875-05-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  8. ↑ "Papers Past — Waikato Times — 21 February 1880 — Page 1". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  9. 1 2 NZ Electronic Text Collection - The Cyclopedia Company Ltd, 1902
  10. ↑ Paekakariki Station Precinct Trust Museum
  11. ↑ Refreshments - the North Island main trunk line: NZ History online - History Group of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
  12. ↑ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "2. – Waikato places – Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  13. ↑ THE MERCER RAILWAY FATALITY New Zealand Herald, 9 December 1899, Page 5
  14. ↑ Papers Past - Auckland Star, 27 November 1940, Page 8
  15. ↑ http://trains.wellington.net.nz/tunnels2.html
  16. ↑ http://www.motat.org.nz/explore/objects/k900-the-killer
  17. ↑ http://www.outofeurope.net/k900/k900_accident.htm
  18. ↑ Bloxham Burnett roading project from 1998
  19. ↑ http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9118583/Highway-re-opens-after-train-derailing
  20. ↑ Waikato Regional Council – Hamilton to Auckland Passenger Rail 2011 Working Party report
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