Architecture
Inangahua, formerly Inangahua Junction, is a class 5 station minus the ladies’ waiting room and toilet, which occupied approximately a third of the original building. What remains was (west to east) the parcels room, main office and store room. The walls are clad with rusticated weatherboards and the roof is corrugated iron. The building is capped by a bargeboard.
History
The Stillwater-Westport Line reached Inangahua in 1914, and the building was probably completed that year. The station initially serviced considerable coal and timber traffic, but this died away and was not renewed until 1948, in conjunction with some logging traffic. In 1942 the line was extended to Westport, and in 1963 the District Traffic Manager thought that the building was too big for current needs. In 1968 it was badly damaged in the Inangahua earthquake, and lost part of its length as a result. The stockyards closed in 1971, and in 1972 the goods shed burnt down, and was replaced the following year. By the 1970s Inangahua’s role as the railhead for Westland/Nelson saw the yard rearranged and sealed. It closed to passengers when railcar services were withdrawn in 1967, and to less-than-wagonload freight in 1986. Today it is used mainly for train crossings.
Architectural Significance
Inangahua is the only class 5 station on its original site. Its one substantial alteration, the removal of the ladies’ waiting room and toilet, was a direct result of the 1968 Inangahua earthquake.
Historical Significance
Inangahua has long played a key role in the West Coast railway network. The surviving two-thirds of the original building is an important link with past coal and log movements, overlaid until the 1980s with general and farming traffic.
Town / Landscape Value
The station’s distance from town and its restricted use give it a very limited impact on the landscape.
