By CF Johnson.
The old WMRC Station was nothing like today's
railway station, being described in a 1910 issue
of the NZ Railway officers "Advocate"
as a small, dark old shanty. However,
pieces of old china recovered by myself from the
old Paekakariki Railway tip reveal manufacturers
marks dating back to last century, when the line
was still owned and run by the Wellington
Manawatu Railway Company. Marking depict a
little brown engine inside an oval, being,
endorsed "Paekakariki RR Rooms".
The manufacturer was Alfred Meakin of the
Staffordshire District in England and the years
of manufacture are 1897 - 1907 (coat of arms
herald), and 1914 - 1930 (unicorns head).
One single piece appears to bear the markings of
1891.
Some of the old stations on the NZR were known to
have served tea/coffee from what was little more
than a tin shed. Amongst Palmerston North,
Kaitoke, Halcombe, Patea and Aramoho stations,
some refreshment rooms had liquor licences.
Naturally, these rooms gained a great deal of
attention from the prohibition movement.
Between 1900 and 1904 in a number of court
proceeding taken against licensees of railway
refreshment rooms and there patrons, concern was
expressed that such licences were not under the
control of the penal clauses in the licensing
act.
On 22 April 1904, in a statement made to the
press, the minister of railways, Sir Joseph Ward,
stated that the sale of liquor at railway
refreshment rooms had not proved satisfactory and
would be discontinued altogether from April 1st
1905. Lessees licences were not renewed as
they expired. During these early times, all
station refreshment rooms were leased and the
station liquor licences were usually the leases
of the rooms.
In the pre-railway coaching days of New Zealand,
sustenance stops for passengers were made at
about 80 km distance which was a useful guide to
the railway authorities.
When train transport began to replace horse
haulage the speeds were limited by the newness of
the trackbeds. The limited capacity
of the fuel and water tanks made it necessary to
have stop close together. Why not make
these stops into refreshment stops for
passengers? The railways of Britain
provided refreshments at some larger stations
from the mid 1830's, setting standards for
quality and service that were copied world-wide.
In New Zealand contractors were quick to tender
for the right to sell refreshments at the engine
servicing stops and many of them received good
financial rewards for their efforts.
A number of contractors provided their own
branded crockery but the losses were high because
of the poor rate of return. At the
termination or expiry of a lease, all furniture,
fittings and other chattels were purchased from
the contractor by the new lessee. This was
part of the NZR's conditions of contract.
The old railway tip at Paekakariki bore testimony
to the many different leased refreshment rooms in
the North Island alone. Different pieces
that I have recovered even include stations such
as Raurimu and Waiouru, as far north as Te
Awamutu.
During 1909, after NZR took control over
Wellington Manawatu Railway Company's lines,
construction of new railway station at
Paekakariki was commenced. The refreshment
room was completed during 1909, even though the
station itself did not open until 1910.
Tenders were called for the new refreshment rooms
at Paekakariki and the first lease was eventually
granted to the highest bidder, Mr Peter
Hartshorn, a hotelkeeper of Johnsonville.
Mr Hartshorn was to pay the amount of 526:10:0
per annum, for the period covering
1-December-1909 to 31-March-1912. |
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