Manawatu rail: Campbelltown Traditional Cache
Manawatu rail: Campbelltown
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One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around the Manawatu.
Welcome aboard the Sanson tram service to Sanson! Last stop Rosina, next stop Makowhai.
The first commercial train arrived in Campbelltown in August, 1884, eleven years after the opening of the Foxton-Palmerston line. At the time this was the end of the line. An engine shed and a goods shed were built here, then in 1886 stockpens were added. The distance from Campbelltown itself, 4.6km away, was a small problem. The guard had to walk from Campbelltown each day while the driver and other employees lived in tents at the tramway terminus. The driver eventually built a cottage, probably at the insistence of his wife!
Although the station was formally called Campbelltown, it was often known as Hickford's after Hickford's Line, the road that intersected here. Campbelltown itself was renamed to Rongotea in 1895, Campbelltown station was renamed Rongotea Siding. Hickford's Line has been renamed to Longburn-Rongotea Road.
The Carnarvon to Cambelltown run was losing a pound a day, so in order to make the line profitable, it had to be extended on to Sanson. This was completed in November, 1885.
In 1904 the people of Rongotea finally got fed up with walking the almost 5km to the station and asked for a branch connection into town. The cost of installing this vs the limited return from the small population meant that this proposal did not go ahead.
The lines and stations were removed at the end of the war, in 1945.
Excellent parking at the honey store nearby. The station itself stood right where the honey shop is now.
References:
Cassells, K.R.: "The The Sanson Tramway", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1962.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Guvf pnpur unf orra ergverq!
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