Mangaroa railway station war. After the war the depot was a disposal site for surplus stores until RNZAF use ceased in July 1949, at which time it is assumed that the site was transferred to the NZ Army for their use. Prior to the construction of the Rimutaka Tunnel, several proposals for a tunnel under the Rimutaka Ranges to bypass the Incline section involved tunnels with a western portal to the north-east of Mangaroa station. In 1898 a survey was completed for a tunnel between Mangaroa and Cross Creek. The idea received a great deal of attention, but ultimately went nowhere as such
Wairarapa Line North Island Main Trunk section between Wellington and Palmerston North. The line originally included the famous Rimutaka Incline, which used the Fell mountain railway system to cross the Rimutaka Range between Upper Hutt and Featherston. In the mid-1950s, the line between Petone and Featherston was substantially realigned, with the line diverted to the east of the Hutt River between Petone and Haywards to serve new housing developments in northern Lower Hutt, and the construction of the Rimutaka Tunnel to replace the Rimutaka Incline. Part of the former route west of the Hutt River has been retained as the Melling Branch.