Woodville Railway Station, New Zealand

Story

Woodville railway station is the northern terminus of the Wairarapa Line and is located at the junction with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line in the small Tararua town of Woodville, 27 km east of Palmerston North in New Zealand’s North Island.
Woodville was the railhead of the line from Napier until the line was completed through the Manawatu Gorge, connecting it with Palmerston North in 1891. It was not until 1897 when the Wairarapa Line finally reached its northern terminus that Woodville again became a station of some importance, 10 years after it opened. As a junction, Woodville has hosted a variety of services from the Wairarapa, Manawatu, and Hawkes Bay regions, but has been closed to passenger services since 2001.
The station remains distinctive for its unique balloon loop track arrangement, which allows trains from Hawke’s Bay direct access to the Wairarapa and vice versa without having to run the locomotive around the train. This means that trains from any direction can use the station, and the loop can also be used to turn locomotives when Woodville is the terminus of a journey.