Page 26 - rigneymaster

One Man’s Goldfield: the story of the Horseshoe Bend Diggings, William Rigney and Somebody’s Darling

From conversations it appears that this was quite a “semi-permanent” camp.

A “station” or shelter in the form of an old wagon was established at “Rigney” just
upstream of Meyer’s home. In 1949 following petitions by Mr Eaton [link to copy of
petition] at the bend the station was moved to outside his gate (just upstream of the
current entrance to the farmhouse. This was to provide shelter for his raspberries
waiting collection by the train. Files held by Archives New Zealand in Dunedin from the
Railway Traffic Manager’s Office [link to Archives New Zealand record details] contain
the details of agreements surrounding the Rigney station, including the documents
linked to in following paragraphs.

Link to original site of Rigney railway siding in Google maps

Link to final site of Rigney railway siding in Google maps

Meyer opposed the moving of the station but conceded on agreement from the
Railways in 1950 that the train would continue to stop at the old Rigney siding (early
site of the Rigney station): “It has been decided to agree to Mr Meyer’s request and in
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future No.470 may stop at the above mileage to pick up a can of cream ” [link to copy
of decision]

The number of parcels through the “station” for the year ended 31 March 1935 seems
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very small by modern standards: [link to full copy of return for 1935]

Figure 14 Record of parcels through Rigney railway sub-station 1935

The Rigney station gradually deteriorated and was finally removed in the mid 2000’s
for restoration.

The abandoned railway line is now used as the road.

25 NZR internal correspondence District Traffic Managers Office, Dunedin, 24 August 1950. Archives New Zealand
26 NZR internal correspondence. Archives New Zealand

© Jeff Robertson 26