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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 7, Issue 5 (September 1, 1932)

Hamilton-Te Aroha Line Completed

Hamilton-Te Aroha Line Completed.

October, 1884, saw the completion and opening of the railway from Hamilton to Morrinsville, and from Ruakura Junction to Cambridge. By March, 1886, the railway between Hamilton and Te Aroha was ready for traffic—ready to serve the pioneers who had pushed into the wilderness in quest of golden harvests, gold of the mountain, gold of the grain, and eventually that wonderful gold of the meadow and milking shed.

In February, 1882, the Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Co., Ltd., was formed to construct, under the District Railways Act, 1887, a railway from Morrinsville to the village of Ohinemutu.

The consent of the ratepayers and owners of property to the construction of the Morrinsville to Lichfield section of the proposed line, length 42 miles, was obtained on 13th April, 1883.

In the following year the Government, under the hand of the Colonial Treasurer, Sir Julius Vogel, entered into negotiations with the company for the purchase of this portion of the railway, the chairman of the company being Dr. J. Logan Campbell. After a lengthy correspondence, matters were finally arranged, it being made incumbent on the company to complete the railway to Lichfield before handing it over to the Government.

June, 1886, saw the railway completed for traffic to Putaruru, and by a short branch line from Putaruru to Lichfield.