Manawatu rail: Trondjeim Traditional Cache

Welcome aboard the Government Railways' service to Wanganui! Last stop Mugby Junction, next stop Taonui.

Travelling down this line from Mugby passengers would see dense bush on both sides of the track, suddenly opening to a man made clearing here. The railways, by opening the interior for colonisation, found a need for timber, not just for their own use as sleepers and stations, but also as cargo, to turn those settlements into towns. Accordingly this stretch, from Bunnythorpe to Feilding, was home to three sawmill stations. This is the first, servicing Nannestad's Sawmill. There was a road from Mugby Junction and Bunnythorpe to Feilding however, although in parts it was metalled, most of it was just a dirt and mud track.

Trondjeim was settled mostly by Norwegians working at the sawmill, part of the immigration that Vogel's Public Works Department encouraged. The Norwegians named the area Trondjeim after Trondheim, a large city in Norway, however a city this was not. There were a number of two-room cottages here as well as the sawmill and almost nothing else. The station was built in 1876, along with the rest of the line, and was served by two rather flash wooden platforms. Nine years later the timber was gone and in December 1885 the sawmill and Trondjeim Station were closed. This was much to the criticism of the Feilding Star, which argued that nearby Aorangi Station was not closed even though it served less people.

The records state that Trondjeim Station was 1 mile 52 chains from Mugby Junction, which makes it right here, at the cache site (okay, actually 40m closer to Bunnythorpe) and yet the land here is neither flat enough nor at the rail level sufficient to build a loop siding or station. I think this reflects the short life of the station. After the timber was pulled out, the land was converted to farm land, and a lot of drainage ditches were dug. The rail foundation may also have been lifted then too. As a result, there is no evidence that the station was ever here.

Note: Tracks are for trains. Do not cross the ditch to the rail line.

Trondjeim Siding, 1878