Cultural Significance

This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Social: The completion of the Paeroa-Waihi railway line and the building of the Waihi Station represents an important event in the social and economic history of Waihi. Both the demands of the gold industry for coal and supplies and the demands of a rapidly increasing population for fast and efficient transport were met with the advent of the railway. As the gold industry wound down the railway continued to play an important part in the history of Waihi with the development of agriculture and other industries and as a source of local employment. The current use of the station by the Waihi Goldfields Steam Train Society gives the place added significance as a place of potential public education.

Historic Significance

Historical Significance or Value This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Historical: The station has considerable significance for the township of Waihi as an historical marker of the gold boom years. The completion of the line from Paeroa and the opening of the railway station in 1905 was an important development in Waihi. The speed and efficiency of the train provided an essential economic and social service for a town that had, by the turn of the century, become New Zealand's principal gold mining settlement. The Waihi Station also has significance in the history of the New Zealand railway network. Waihi was the terminus for the east coast line from 1905 until the extension to Tahawai was opened on 1 May 1927. This extension was then connected to Tauranga and Taneatua in 1928. Waihi Station continued to serve this line (which was the only rail link between Auckland and Tauranga) until the opening up of the Kaimai deviation in 1978. Today the station is used by the Goldfields Steam Train Society which run a tourist train to Waikino. The Waihi Railway Station Historic Area is representative of the typical country station both in the placement and design of the remaining structures. The station, many of the accompanying structures and the railway houses represent a wide cross section of typical railway architecture.

Physical Significance

This historic area was registered under the Historic Places Act 1993. This report includes text from the original Recommendation for Registration considered by the NZHPT Board at the time of registration. Architectural: The station (Troup 'B' type) is a rectangular structure with a corrugated iron covered gable roof. There is a lean-to verandah on the rail frontage and a small lean-to porch at the rear. It is clad with rusticated weatherboard. The front features a partially enclosed verandah with a slightly pitched canopy and simple timber posts. Sawtooth valance decorations are located at either end. The exterior also features double-hung sash windows, some of which have carved brackets supporting the lower sill. The rear features a small porch lean-to which is adjacent to a centrally located external brick chimney. The gable ends feature verge boards which are either original or match the original design, but have no windows or other original decorative features. The architect, George Troup, was appointed Head Draughtsman in 1894 and in 1902 Office Engineer for New Zealand Rail. In 1907 he became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. By 1919 he was the first to fill the new post of Officer in Charge of Architectural Branch of New Zealand Railways. The standard designs of the Troup period formed the basis of many new stations right through to 1945 when the last provincial link to Kaikoura was established. Technological: Individual structures within the area have significance as examples of past technology. These include the derrick crane which is a rare example of pre-railways technology being adapted to railways use. The manually controlled semaphore signal system is an other important example of past railway technology. While these items were once common features found throughout New Zealand, they are now significant as rare physical reminders of the practical working of the country station yard.

Mackay, 1994

J. Mackay, 'Waihi Railway Station Historic Area Report: An Inventory of Features', NZHPT, 1994