First station
The site of Christchurch's first railway station, on Moorhouse Avenue at the bottom of Madras Street, with the 1960 station building in the background
Christchurch's first railway station was built by the Canterbury Provincial Council for its5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) broad-gauge railway line between the city and the wharf at Ferrymead, opening on 1 December 1863. From 1867 the station received traffic from Lyttelton, and from the west, as the Main South Line was extended out to Addington, Rolleston, Selwyn, Rakaia, and destinations further south.
Facilities at the station were initially modest, consisting of a platform, station building, goods shed, locomotive shed, staff accommodation, a single main line and siding. It was not long before this proved to be inadequate, with an authorisation for the enlargement of the goods shed and the provision of a refreshment room forthcoming in January 1864. Later, the arrival of new locomotives resulted in the construction of additional locomotive storage, and the purchase of additional carriage stock necessitated the building of a new carriage shed. In October 1873, a new siding was laid and by 1874 a stores building with derrick had been added.
Despite these improvements, the problem of a lack of storage space at the station for goods continued. This resulted in the common practice of storing goods in wagons outside the sheds. This, combined with a high staff turnover, led to pillage becoming a significant problem. The colonial government received many complaints and, on bringing this to the attention of the provincial railways, was reminded of the lack of storage facilities. Also of concern was the deterioration of the rolling stock. The engineer reported in late 1867 that new engineering facilities were urgently required to enable adequate attention to be given to maintenance. The opportunity was also taken to point out the unnecessarily high cost of handling goods traffic with inadequate shed and siding facilities. By early the following year, nearly the whole of the goods shed was in use for customs traffic. The situation had reached the point where an additional goods shed, grain and wool stores had become necessary. These problems persisted despite the relocation of buildings from Ferrymead to Christchurch, including the goods shed (converted to a two-floor stores building) and the refreshment room (converted to staff accommodation).
Traffic volume had increased to the point where, in 1874, passenger services from Lyttelton had been separated from goods traffic. By this time, the station was considered inadequate for requirements. The general manager for the provincial railways commented in August 1874 that “The present station is generally inconvenient and much too small and cramped for the present passenger traffic. It must be enlarged if it is to remain where it is … As the building is old, enlargement would mean constructing anew.”
The end of the first Christchurch station coincided with the re-gauging of the provincial lines to the new colonial standard. To accommodate narrow gauge trains which were being operated in conjunction with existing broad-gauge rolling stock, a temporary platform was laid between the provincial broad-gauge station and the site of the new station in early 1876. It was first used for the departure of the first train to Timaru on 6 March 1876.
In a memorandum dated 12 December 1877, the Railways Commissioner for the Middle Island instructed the general manager for Christchurch to suspend all traffic on the 20th to allow for the final re-gauging work to take place. This marked the closure of the station and its replacement by the new station that had been erected to handle narrow-gauge traffic.
Second station
A contract for construction of a new station was let to James Tait for a price of £7,072. The commencement of work was marked by the laying of the foundation stone by Provincial Superintendent Rolleston on 22 November 1876, one of his last official duties, just a week before provincial government was abolished. It was sited on Moorhouse Avenue and opened to traffic without ceremony on 21 December 1877.
The station had been built to the specifications and design of Canterbury Railways engineer J. G. Warner in the Victorian neo-Gothic style, with wood and red brick being prominent construction materials. One of the neighbouring buildings was formerly occupied by H. M. Customs, but later became the office of the traffic manager. In addition to the main platform, there was a separate island platform connected to the former via a footbridge. Both platforms were protected from the elements by verandas.
Services from this station included the "boat trains", connecting with the inter-island steamer ferries out of Lyttelton (until 1976); suburban services to Lyttelton (until 1972) and Rangiora (until 1976); inter-city services to Ashburton (until 1958) and Burnham (until 1967); rural passenger services to Lincoln (until 1880) and Culverden (later Parnassus); mixed services to Little River (until 1951), Southbridge (until 1951), Springfield (until 1968), and Dunedin; railcar services to Dunedin, Picton, Little River, and the West Coast; and long-distance passenger services to Dunedin/Invercargill, the West Coast (from 1923), and Picton (from 1945).
Christchurch railway station building (Moorhouse Avenue)
One of the more notable events in the history of this station was the commissioning of New Zealand's first electrified suburban rail service in 1929. This service operated between Christchurch station and Lyttelton using Ec class locomotives. It was the second rail electrification project in New Zealand, after the successful electrification of the Otira Tunnel in 1923. The system reached the end of its useful life in 1970 and was scrapped. Christchurch, being the terminus of electric operations, was the point at which trains were marshalled to switch locomotives from electric to steam, and later diesel.
Plans for a replacement station were being made as far back as 1914, with approval for the project finally forthcoming in 1936. A proposed design for the new station, by W. Gray Young was included in the department's 1938 annual report, but the onset of war delayed any further work on the idea. The actual station, as built on the site of the existing station, followed the original design fairly closely differing primarily where an additional storey was added to the front of the main building. Construction was piecemeal, with the first stage being the completion of the new main platform in 1953, followed by final completion and official opening on 1 November 1960.
The decline in popularity of rail for passenger transport and the change in handling practices for goods traffic eventually contributed to the decision to close this station and to redevelop the site for other commercial interests. The station café closed on 25 May 1990, and the station itself was sold the following year.
Final
At Stage 1 there is a White traffic sign with black writing across the street.
A = No. of letters in the third word.
B= No. of letters in the forth word
C = No. of steam trains on the sign
D = B+1
E = No. of letters in the first word
F = No. of letters in the second word +1
S 43° 32.ABC E 172° 38.DEF