Tūātapere History - Business and Industry, Tūātapere Railway Shed & Engine
Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive
Engine AB778 at Tūātapere, protruding from the Engine Shed, now gone. This is also where the turntable was located as told by the photographer. The building shown here is now long gone. The engine shed was just north of the station and on the east side, with the turntable on the north end of the engine shed. Some Tūātapere Railway History: On Thursday 23rd September 1909, a beautiful sunny day, the final eight miles and six chain of the railway track from Invercargill to Tūātapere was formally declared open and there was plenty of fanfare with dignitaries and other excursionists (between 400-500) having arrived by train from Invercargill, which was a pretty decent sized crowd, as can be seen in the photo. Some traveled in open top carriages according to local history. On arrival in Tūātapere, the train passengers swarmed to the 'West's Waiau Hotel', and it was well patronised all day. An excellent lunch was provided by the Hotel to the official party. Already known as excellent hosts at their earlier hotel, it could be said the day the Railway opened was the day that truly cemented William and Elizabeth West and their new Waiau Hotel firmly in the public eye. For more information on the West's and their two hotels in the district, see CWA.012.103.004 and CWA.012.103.005 'West's Waiau Hotel' had not long been opened (6th February 1909) and was situated immediately opposite where the Railway Station and terminus line were being built, and the new hotel was was guaranteed to attract train travellers in need of a bed and meal. William or 'Bill' West previously had an accommodation house on the Papatotara side of the Waiau, known as 'Angler's Rest' (see where to find this above). But with the railway creeping ever nearer to the fledgling township, Bill made the wise decision to rebuild on the railway side of the township and applied to have the Anglers Rest licence moved to his newly built hotel 'Wests Waiau Hotel' on the east side of the Waiau river. A licence was granted at 25 pound per annum. The hotel being directly opposite the Railway Station, it garnered a lot of business from railway traffic and was run as a huge success for many years to come. The first station was erected at the time the railway was built, but it did not last long. On the 9th January 1915 the Tūātapere Railway Station was completely destroyed by fire, according to local news. Then the second railway station which was built, is still in existence today, and this will be the focus of another new entry coming very soon. Sources used for the above are the excellent book, on Tūātapere, 'The Hole in the Bush, a Tuatapere Centennial Review', compiled by Des Williams, 'On The Edge of the Bush', by Sheila Natusch, West to the Fiords', by FWG Miller and published news items from Papers Past. Hopefully this entry will be added to as more information comes to hand. If you or anyone you know has any more information or photos to share or accounts of the Tūātapere Railway during the years, especially of buildings no longer there. It is only by collating these and making them available to the public that we keep our history alive, so please do share these with the archives, and further information on this with us in the comments section. You can make a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page.
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Details
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Title
Tūātapere History - Business and Industry, Tūātapere Railway Shed & Engine
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Maker
Simpson, Neville
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Date made
1967
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Subject
Settlement, Buildings, Business & Industry, West, (Bill) William & Elizabeth, West family, West's Waiau Hotel, Road & Bridge Building, Early Travel, Tūātapere, Railways & Roads, Fire, Trains, Waiau River
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Additional information
Digital copy only of image in archive
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All rights reserved
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Location
Main Rd, Tūātapere, next to the old Railway Station. We also belong to the internationally recognised 'Safe Space Alliance'.
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Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive
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