Te Aute railway station

Te Aute
Te Aute
New Zealand Government Railways (NZGR); regional rail
	Stereograph of NZR J class (1874) at Te Aute Station during a trial run from Napier to Waipukurau in 1887
General information
Coordinates	39°47′35″S 176°40′37″E / 39.793°S 176.677°E
Elevation	28 m (92 ft)
Owned by	KiwiRail
Line(s)	Palmerston North–Gisborne Line
Distance	Palmerston North 138.38 km (85.99 mi)
History
Opened	16 February 1876
Closed	27 September 1981
Previous names	Opapa; 14 September 1913 to 12 June 1997; Te Nahu 1912–1913
Services

Opapa (or Te Aute) railway station is a preserved station on the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line in New Zealand's North Island that closed in 1981.^[1] It is in the Hastings District of Hawke's Bay, 23.56 km (14.64 mi) south of Hastings city,^[2] in a census meshblock with a population of only 222 in 2018.^[3]

Te Aute is unusual in three respects:

It is one of less than 40 wooden stations remaining on their original sites.^[4]
In 1898 it was one of only 18 stations with a refreshment room.^[5]
An official name change restored its original name of Te Aute,^[6] after being known as Opapa from 14 September 1913 to 12 June 1997.^[1]

Nearby the railway climbs a steep bank and there is a radio mast, an old shop and a lake.

^ ^a ^b Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations in New Zealand by Juliet Scoble (2012)
^ New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas (First ed.). Quail Map Co. 1965. pp. 3 & 4.
^ "SA1 | Census | 2018 | SA1 Dataset | GIS Map Data". datafinder.stats.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ "The changing rail landscape". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
^ "Station Archive". NZR Rolling Stock Lists. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
^ "NZGB Gazetteer". gazetteer.linz.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 July 2021.