Year Built

1918

Architecture

A standard Troup class A design, very similar to Moana. Rotowaro has a corrugated-iron roof and rusticated weatherboard cladding. A lean-to design, it incorporates, from left to right looking from the platform, an office, lobby, ladies' waiting room and toilet, the latter a smaller lean-to extension. The verandah, added six years after the building was erected, is, unlike Moans or Edgecumbe, flush with the lean-to pitch, and forms a part gable. The decorative scalloped verandah valance curves down to the wall. The windows are double-hung sash. There are no additions.

History

Rotowaro opened as a flag station on the Huntly-Pukemiro railway on 11 February 1918. It was built at a cost of£464, with toilets an additional £114. There was no verandah but within the year approval was being sought to erect one, and it was provided in 1924 at a cost of £125. By 1951 the District Traffic Manager described the station as an "island station", and an overhead bridge was regarded as essential to avoid clambering over the track. Rotowaro residents beseeched Railways for the bridge and by 1955 the expenditure was approved. The bridge was provided two years later at a cost of £5,400. In 1959 flush toilets and a septic tank were installed. The building's fate hung m the balance for a while after it was proposed to replace it with a smaller, relocatable station in 1978. In 1980 it closed to less-than-wagonload freight. Six years later the station business was confined to coal from local open-cast mines, and this business was expected to cease by 1992. The station is today used by the Bush Tramway Club Inc., which operates a museum line from Rotowaro to Pukemiro.

Architectural Significance

Rotowaro is a virtually unchanged example of the Troup class A station and bears close comparison with Moana. Few such original structures remain and Rotowaro has been maintained in this fashion for over 70 years.

Historical Significance

Rotowaro sits in the middle of one of the country's biggest open-cast mining areas. Much of the station's business has revolved around coal traffic and its physical isola6on emphasises the later reliance on this trade.

Town / Landscape Value

Rotowaro station is not greatly enhanced by its present situation in the middle of an open-cast mining area. It is likely to be relocated to allow further mining.