Orepuki or Aropaki, Business & Industry - Orepuki Railway & Station Buildings

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Orepuki or Aropaki, Business & Industry - Orepuki Railway and Station: Black and White image of the Orepuki Railway, Post Office and Goods Shed, along with passengers who appear to be disembarking the train at this once upon a time major outpost in the Longwoods District. A group of unidentified shops (can anyone help with this?) sits to the far left of the photo, and it is likely this photograph was taken from the Water Tower. On the far right at the back is the now Orepuki Cafe building. The scene shown here is thought to be from the early 1900's. This image is in the Public Domain and was donated by a descendant of the original owner of the photo, the Brownridge Family. OREPUKI RAILWAY & STATION MILESTONES: Orepuki line and 'Fourth Class' Station opened 5th May 1885 Next major milestone in the railways branch line to Tūātapere, was opened on 23rd September 1909 FIRE… in 1941 the Station was badly damaged, rebuilt and upgraded 31 March 1942 - Station changed from officered to flag station (caretaker) On 24 November 1951, Railways Department attempted to re-establish the station as Aropaki, the original name for Orepuki, but locals refused this 1954 - all passenger services ceased altogether through Orepuki (Tūātapere Branch line) 1960 - with the Post Office moving to its new site (now closed), the station was sold for dismantling. The Fire Brigade asked to retain the office portion 31 July 1976 line from Riverton to Orepuki & Tūātapere was closed down The Water Tower was removed from the original site & rebuilt where it sits today (2025), it is in the process of once again being restored, thanks to funds from the Tūātapere Te Waewae Community Board being granted. OREPUKI RAILWAY EARLIER HISTORY According to 'From Goldfield to Fields of Green', by Marjory Smith, on 13 May 1872 it was confirmed "the construction of a tramway or light railway, from Riverton to the Orepuki Goldfield, would open up a large area of good agricultural land, and render the same available for settlement," forthwith. But not everyone was happy, gold miners who relied on the land being available for diggings, saw the incoming influx of settlers and farmers as a threat to their livelihoods, as the land they were working would need to be given up to them. The 16 miles between the two settlements was set aside for a railway and sections of land on each side of this, was procured for the railway, before the workings commenced. The Southland Waste Lands Act of 1865 allowed for this. There was great excitement at the coming of the railway to what was then pretty much the wild west of Murihiku Southland. There had been many claims of necessity made by those with interests in agriculture, shopkeeping, timber mills and even some championing the goldfields and the as yet untapped coal mining were clamouring for the railway to be constructed. Some of their claims were that this area of the southwest could easily provide all the timber needed for the whole of the Otago region, if only if could be easily transported after extraction, claims were made that there was 40-50,000 pounds of timber in the bush there. It was also claimed, the area was one of the richest goldfields in the whole country, and easily able to support 3-4,000 workers! Then the land itself, with a claim of there being 8-10,000 acres of land between The Waiau and Orepuki which could be used immediately for agricultural purposes. It was further claimed that the land would double in price when the rail arrived. By 1873 it was reported that the railway workings had been put through the bush 2 1/2 miles from the Jacobs River Bridge at this point, so it is thought that construction had begun immediately upon the contract being secured. By 1874, there is news that part of the Orepuki Railway contract was awarded to a very familiar name in Railway history of the South Island, David Proudfoot. This part of the project was at a cost of 28,397 pounds. The railway works proceeded every slowly onwards, through back-breaking bush and sinking swamps, creating many challenges for the builders. Along the way various other stations were opened up as the railway reached those settlements. Progress continued northwards and eventually by 1885, the line arrived at Orepuki. On the 5th May 1885 the Orepuki section of the line was officially opened. It is noted that the Railway buildings at Orepuki included a goods shed and engine shed, a loading bank, crane and water tank. The wood and iron station was built with entrances which separated out the railway and post departments, there was a waiting room for the ladies, a public ticket lobby, a workroom for the officials, and it also had a new novelty, private boxes in the postal division. A platform outside for passenger traffic was installed and there were also a number of railway cottages along the same land. With all of this, the lives of those who lived and worked there, changed forever. The railway put the town and country folk within easy traveling distance of Aparima Riverton, and even to Invercargill, allowing ease of shopping, visiting friends and family and attending events. And from here, the line continued to push onwards to the Waiau District. However, one of the biggest changes, was that the Orepuki town centre at the then named Garfield site, was too far away from the new Railway and services there, such as the P&T or Post and Telegraph. So a new site, to be called Hirstfield, was surveyed, with the sections there selling quickly, as the people wished to move to the new centre of commerce for the town. In a strange twist of fate for the named settlement of Hirstfield, those of the site changing town stuck to the original name of Orepuki, refusing to call their new settlement Hirstfield. And so, Orepuki remains today the name. But this was also called into question much later, on 24 November 1951, as the Railways attempted to re-name the settlement to its original te reo name of Aropaki. The residents were furious, they had committed to calling it Orepuki, despite 2 name changes forced on them by the govt surveyors and be beggared if the Railway was going to force a name change either! After petitions and meetings, the townspeople got their way, with officials coming to remove the new offending Aropaki sign off their railway station. For around 70 years reports Marjory Smith in her book, trains would come and go on the Orepuki line twice a day, except on Sundays, and later on these travelled from Tūātapere, through Orepuki to Invercargill and back. This all stopped on 31 July 1976 when the Tūātapere Branch Line was cut off back to Aparima Riverton. This ended the days of rail transport to the township of Orepuki, and when the tracks were removed, it also ended any potential future tourism of the Railway Line, that could have been made. The Orepuki Station buildings are no more, only the water tank remains. (Although someone has suggested that the office of the Fire Station could be part of later additions of the Orepuki Railway Station, is this correct? If you can confirm or deny this statement, we'd be most grateful, thanks!) We would also like to thank and acknowledge Marjory A Smith, author of 'From Goldfield to Fields of Green', the Orepuki Story, which she kindly donated to our history library. 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 Orepuki Railway. Station and other Railway Buildings during the years, please do share this with us in the comments section. You can do this by making a comment in the space provided under the image page. Or you can make contact with us as per the archive front page. Note: these entries are compiled with information provided by donors with the records, from locally reported news, from national and occasionally international reports in publications, from personal records made by the people themselves - such as their electoral enrollments, wills, war records etc., also from government and council held records such as births, deaths and marriages or cemetery information, and lastly, from community memories, such as those passed on by friends, family and contemporaries. It is not always possible to verify memories from others, so please let us know if you believe we have any incorrect information. If you believe that any public or personal record information quoted is wrong, if you can provide proof of any alternative fact to us in a document showing evidence of the correct details, that would be very helpful to us. Thank you.