Object description

Matapuna had several sidings on the North Island Main Trunk line, in the Ruapehu District of New Zealand, serving the east Taumarunui suburb on the north bank of the Whanganui River. It was 2.9 km north west of Manunui and 2.95 km east of Taumarunui. Work was largely complete by May 1903, and freight was handled from 22 June 1903. A fixed signal was placed at the station and a distant at the bridge in 1917 and the ballast pit siding was interlocked by tablet in 1918. A racecourse opened to the south of the bridge in 1916 and some trains served the course on race days, though no platform appears on aerial photos and only the ballast pit was mapped.