Marlborough rail: Hapuka Traditional Cache

One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around Marlborough.
Welcome aboard the South Island Main trunk rail service to Kaikoura! Last stop Aniseed, next stop Kaikoura.

Hapuka Railway station was opened in March 1944, when the Picton to Kaikoura section of the line was completed, and was closed in 1981, just thirty-seven years later. The original shelter shed was removed leaving only the sidings and a small, derelict, goods shelter. Since then the district has been renamed to Hapuku, hāpuka and hāpuku being Māori terms for the same thing, a species of groper, a large fish.

Thirty-two kilometres of rail line was laid between Blenheim and Picton and opened in 1875. However the line stopped 2 km short of Blenheim and it was not until 1881 that it was extended into town. Between 1874 and 1883, surveys were undertaken to find the best route to link Nelson and Picton with the rest of the South Island. The initial concept was for a railway down the Wairau Valley, joining a main trunk line from Canterbury, with branch lines to Nelson and the West Coast. A Royal Commission decided, however, that a route down the eastern seaboard had the ‘least disadvantages’. Throughout the 1880s successive Governments found it increasingly difficult to fund public works. Progress on the Main Trunk Line was slow, with the huge grazing estates of southern Marlborough acting as a disincentive. When the Liberal Government came into power in 1891, however, it was determined to break up the large holdings. This led to more intensive settlement, which altered the potential of the land in favour of railway building. The Picton Freezing Works opened in 1900, creating a demand for a reliable form of transport from southern Marlborough. The link to Seddon section of the railway was opened in 1902. There was a four-fold increase in passengers and goods between 1895 and 1910. Two historic railway stations, Blenheim and Picton, remain from this era.

The outbreak of the first world war slowed construction of the line south of Seddon, as men went to war and materials became unobtainable. Work was officially shut down in August 1917 and did not resume until 1928, when construction camps, culverts, fencing and temporary bridges were built. It wasn’t long, however, before the effects of the Great Depression saw work on the line cease again in October 1931. By 1935 the economic outlook was brighter and work on the railway resumed, with about 1000 men living in 23 camps strung along the Wharanui-Parnassus section. Wartime manpower and material shortages saw work stop again in 1941, only to resume in 1942 when it was decided a railway would conserve petrol and tyres during the war years.

The final section, from Oaro (just south of Kaikoura) to Kaikoura was completed in 1945, a remarkable feat so close to the end of WWII. It was to be the longest railway construction project in New Zealand’s history, spanning 75 years. 5000 people, including hundreds from Canterbury and Marlborough, attended the Kaikoura opening to celebrate the completion of the Picton to Christchurch link, and thus the completed main trunk line from Picton to Bluff. A plaque was unveiled in memory of eight men killed during construction of the line.