Old Railway Station Demolished

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29363, 16 November 1960, Page 19

Old Railway Station Demolished

Christchurch's old railway station was reduced to a pile of rubble in a few hours yesterday. By midday today there will be a large gap where the old station stood for 84 years. But dominating the skyline next door to the site is the massive new brick building that has taken its place. The contractors—Ryan Bros., Ltd. —began the demolition work at 6.30 a.m.

Four large bulldozers with front-end loaders butted and tore at the structure until at 11 a.m. all that remained was the west comer with its empty ticket box windows.

Steel hawsers were threaded through the empty windows and doors on the second floor and attached to the bulldozers. First the old walls resisted the tug of the hawsers. Cupboards, door, and window frames flew out the gaping holes. One rope bit through the timber and came loose. But at last the walls came tumbling down. The front-end loaders then picked up the rubble and dumped it in waiting trucks. All day 16 trucks ran a shuttle service between the site and the grounds of the Woolston Working Men’s Club.

The rubble was dumped into a hollow in the grounds, providing a filling for levelling off a sports area.

A large and intent gallery of spectators watched the destruction. Soon after 3 p.m. the crowd was swelled by school children. Blinding dust was driven in clouds by an easterly wind. It coated cars, and the hair and c Jothes of passers-by. At times visibility near the site was reduced to a few yards 'Hie drivers and six workmen on the job wore goggles and steel helmets. By late afternoon they

were so thickly coated with dust thev were hardly distinguishable. There was not much worth salvaging, said the foreman (Mr J. Ryan). From the roof workmen took about half a ton of lead. Beneath inches of dust in the loft workmen found 10 copies of the “Lyttelton Times.” dated 1879, and a bundle of railway records dated 1877.

The records were wrapped in newspaper, tied with string, and marked “Applications For Passes. First Class.”

The handwriting on the parcel is , large and artistic. The first “s” in “passes” is written in the old style to resemble an “f.” Printed forms inside the packet are filled in with the names and addresses of persons seeking leave, railway passes, or both. All are addressed to Mr John Lawson traffic manager, Canterbury Railways. Pinned to each form is a blue sheet of note-paper on which the applicant gives his reason for applying. A typical one is made on March 22, 1877, by Mr Edwin Silk, stationmaster at Ashburton, for free passes to Christchurch and back so he and his wife could attend a funeral.

. A memorandum from the Ministry of Works requests a free pass for one of its employees from Christchurch to Timaru. In all cases the applications were granted.