Manawatu rail: Levin Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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One of a series of difficult, hard to find, caches at railway stations in and around the Manawatu.
Welcome aboard the WMR service to Wellington! Last stop Kereru, next stop Weraroa.
Warning: This cache is trickier than normal for this series!
William Hort Levin (1845-1893) was born in Wellington and after a three year stint during his teenage years in England, he worked as a wool clerk for his father's company, merchant company Levin and Co. (Levin & Co. auctioned animal products other than meat: wool, hides and skins, tallow, horns, horsehair, etc) On the retirement of his father he, at age twenty-two, became a partner of the firm. By 1878 the other two partners had pulled out and he was running the business on his own. During this time he also took up directorships in several companies and revived the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. He married Amy Fitzgerald, the daughter of a politician, and was married by no less than the Bishop of Wellington, such was the importance of the two families. They had 5 children although one died in infancy.
Levin stood for Parliment in 1879 but ongoing health problems caused him to retire in 1884. Despite this he was the president or sponsor of numerous societies and made significant contributions to many charities.
During the 1870s there was growing dissatisfaction about the lack of access from Wellington to the hinterlands and a railway was built from Wellington to Masterton. However this did not produce the improvement |
W.H. Levin, 1882
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in economy that was expected and Levin and others pushed for a west coast railway to Foxton. He became a director of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company (WMR), the company set up to create that west coast line. Levin retired from the company when the line was completed, in 1886.
Levin was a planned town named, as where many others along the WMR line, for one of the directors of the line. The land for the railway was donated by The Muaūpoko tribe and their leader Keepa Te Rangihiwinui, who wanted to sell the land for the town with a proviso for a town square for gatherings and markets, a reserve at the lake and every 10th property reserved for Māori ownership. Financial pressure on Keepa meant that the government was able to buy the land without these provisos, much to the annoyance of WMR who wanted to buy it themselves.
Levin Station was a simple shelter shed, built in 1886, by the WMR near Tyne Street. Looking at the shape of the land, I would put it just north of Tyne St, however that is all private land now, so the cache is here, just south. In 1895, shortly after the Wereroa station was removed, it was moved to the old platform near the centre of town, where the cache Iron horse will not stop here (ever) is located. This was in order to cope with the gradient exiting town to the north - a difficult climb from a standing start. In 1909 the new station in the middle of town was demolished after a fire and a new Levin Station was built in Weraroa, where the current station is now.
Note:
Levin and Wereroa were two very seperate towns with a lot of rivalry, and much of the historical sources contradict each other. Partly this is because sometimes a person spoke of Levin when they meant Wereroa and vise versa. The information above is the best I could make out. If you were around in 1890 and know just where these stations and sawmills were, I'd love to hear from you.
Bartholomew & Dunn sawmill, 1882. Levin Station in the right distance
The above photo may have been used as Dreaver's basis for placing Levin station at the Roslyn/main road junction, as it is well known that Batholomew & Dunn were on Roslyn Road. However this does not agree with WMR's decision to move the station due to the gradient, or with Hoy's statement that the station was near Tyne Street. Perhaps the homestead was on Roslyn but the timber mill closer into town?
The cache is pretty tiny. Good luck!
References:
Cassells, K.R.: "Uncommon Carrier", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1993.
Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand: "Levin, William Hort"
Wanganui Chronicle, 18 February 1907
Wanganui Chronicle, 12 June 1912
Wikipaedia: "Levin Railway Station"
Hoy, Douglas: "West of the Tararuas, an illustrated history of the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company"
Dreaver, Anthony: "Levin, the making of a town"
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Srapr