Mangaroa railway station Mangaroa railway station Mangaroa railway station was a single-platform rural railway station on the Wairarapa Line between Upper Hutt and Featherston in the Wellington region of New Zealand’s North Island, on the section that was replaced by the Rimutaka Tunnel deviation in 1955. It served the small rural settlement of Mangaroa, in the Mangaroa Valley, east of Upper Hutt. Mangaroa station was not originally built prior to the opening of Kaitoke station as part of the Mungaroa Contract. During the construction of the Rimutaka Tunnel, a siding was laid from the eastern end of the Mangaroa Valley and several chains
Railway electrification in New Zealand Tunnel (1955) and the Kaimai Tunnel (1978). The Rimutaka Tunnel required an intermediate ventilation shaft. From 1967 diesel locomotives (D class) replaced electric locomotives (E class) on freight trains south of Paekakariki on the Kapiti Line after the track in some older tunnels was lowered, so diesels could run under the catenary into Wellington. On two existing electrified tunnels the electrified section was only a small part of the total line. Hence the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel was operated by diesel locomotives from 19 September 1970. The Otira Tunnel was long and steep, so for dieselisation from 1997 a door and