Onehunga Wharf railway station

Onehunga Wharf railway station
Onehunga Wharf 1920s
General information
Coordinates
Owned by	New Zealand Railways Department
Line(s)	Onehunga Branch
Distance	Penrose 2 mi 56 ch (4.3 km)
History
Opened	28 November 1878
Closed	28 December 2006 closed to passengers 1927
Services
Preceding station   Historical railways   Following station Onehunga Line open, station open 58 ch (1.2 km)   Onehunga Branch NZR   Terminus

The First Contingent of the Second Boer War boarding the S. S. Rotoiti in October 1899 at the Onehunga Wharf railway station

Onehunga Wharf railway station on the Onehunga Branch section of the Onehunga Line was the terminal station for the line to Auckland from 28 November 1878 to 1927. A petition in 1870 objected to the extension from Onehunga, on the grounds that it would take business away from the town.

From 1886 until the completion of the North Island Main Trunk line in 1909, travelling to and from Auckland and the lower North Island involved a train journey north to New Plymouth then by coastal ship from New Plymouth to Onehunga.

The opening and closing dates given by Scoble are: opened June 1874, to passengers April 1892 and closed to goods on 28 December 2006 and on 31 March 1971 to passengers, although the Heritage Trust and another source say that the station closed in 1927. From 10 December 1927 its accounts were merged with Onehunga and it was treated as a flag station for accounting.

By 1899 there was a 4th class station building, urinals, 40 ft (12 m) x 30 ft (9.1 m) and 31 ft (9.4 m) x 16 ft (4.9 m) goods sheds, loading bank, weighbridge, wagon turntable, cattle and sheep yards. From 1976 locomotives were kept at least 20 m (66 ft) from the concrete base of the wharf.