Year Built

1939

Architecture

Hundalee is a late example of a Troup class A station, a lean-to structure complete with adjoining ladies' toilet. Clad in shiplap rather than rusticated weatherboards, it has a corrugated-iron roof and no decoration except corner eave brackets. It has sash windows and one main entrance with a fanlight above. There is a separate entrance to the toilet. It is the largest version of the class A, with a lobby, office, luggage room, ladies' waiting room and toilet.

History

Hundalee was one of 14 stations built from 1937 to complete the South Island main trunk railway between Parnassus and Wahanui. Erected in 1939, it was a terminus and an officered station until the link to Kaikoura was completed in 1945. Passengers travelling between the railheads were moved by bus until the gap was finally filled. It was intended to serve Conway Flats settlement, the sheep stations between the sea and Parnassus, and farms west of SH1, but it had a relatively brief active life. While the Main North Line quickly became an important conduit, traffic at the station was not heavy and it closed to freight in 1980. In 1992 the station building was moved to Waikari, to be used as a terminal for the privately operated Weka Pass Railway

Architectural Significance

Hundalee is a singular and original example of the enduring influence of the Troup standard design. Features such as the sash windows, largely abandoned decades earlier in favour of more modern windows, lingered on in railway station design for some time. Hundalee represents the triumph of standardised design, which faded only when the last station on the South Island main trunk line was built.

Historical Significance

Although not on its original site, Hundalee is an important reminder of the last substantial railway-building exercise. Filling the gap between Parnassus and Kaikoura gave the country a complete north to south rail link over 80 years after the first track was laid. The bridging of this link, and of three others in other parts of the country at this time, effectively represented the end of the great era of rail construction in New Zealand.

Town / Landscape Value

In its new rural location Hundalee has no great impact on its surroundings.