Designed by George Alexander Troup (who also designed the beautiful Dunedin railway station) and built in 1905, Lower Hutt Station, as it was then called, was on the line to the Wairarapa which then ran down the western side of the Hutt Valley.
The building is now listed as Category 1 with the Historic Places Trust. It is significant as one of the few remaining examples of an elaborate Troup station dating from the turn of the 20th century. It is also significant as it reflects the expansion of railway transport in New Zealand, the changing population patterns in the Hutt Valley, and the importance of the Wellington to Wairarapa line around the turn of the 20th century.
It is a single-storey Queen Anne style building, with tower, ornate timber detailing and decoration, and a crested, Marseille-tiled roof. The platform canopy is supported by curved, perforated iron brackets. The square tower is capped with shaped dome and ornate finial above. The tower was designed to draw attention to the main entrance porch on what was originally the street frontage.
Use of the station started to decline in 1927 when a new commuter line to Waterloo was completed. The decline continued when the Melling - Belmont section of track was closed in 1954 and the through line to the Wairarapa was re-routed through the centre of the valley. Now, along with Melling station, it is part of the Melling line and trains run Monday to Friday only.
In 1991-1992 the station building was converted into a bar, restaurant and brewery complex.
You can't view the station building from cache site, but head through the car park and into the courtyard just 50m away to see it.
