Manawatu rail: Sanson Traditional Cache
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Size: 
(small)
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One of a series of simple, easy to find, caches at railway stations in and around the Manawatu.
Welcome aboard the MCC's Sanson tramway service to Sanson! Last stop Pennys. Service continues on to the Pukenui gravel pit, next stop Ohakea (but no cache there).
Henry Sanson
Little seems to be known about Henry Sanson. He was the secretary of the Hutt Small Farm Association at the time that it applied for 5,000 acres under a government policy at getting the small farmer onto his own block of land. The 5000 acres became known as the Sandon Block and were made available in 1871. The town of Sanson was established there in honor of the secretary.
Sanson moved into his namesake, along with 26 others from the Association, and became a piller of the society as a member of the school society, the Education Board, and as a member of the Manawatu County Council. He left Sanson and moved to Rongotea in October 1890.
Sanson
Sanson was elected to the Manawatu County Council as the representative for Sandon and at its first meeting in January 1877, he proposed that there should be a railway between Sandon and Carnarvon. A rail line had already been running for the last 4 years from the Manawatu's principal port at Foxton through to Palmerston (now Palmerston North), and the benefits of the rail line in moving settlers and produce was well established.
The Council approached the government but the government was not willing to build the line although would run it if it showed that it would turn a profit. The Council was unable to fun it themselves and so the project was shelved. However in 1882 a new act was passed, in which the government would subsidise 3/4 of the cost of new roads and bridges, including tramways. Using this act the Council built the first part of the line, completing the Carnarvon to Cambelltown section. The tramway had its first commercial run in August 1884 (see Manawatu rail: Oroua Downs for a more complete description of the intervening years).
The Hibernia was purchased to run the line, and after 6 months the line averaged a loss of a £1 per day (an average labourer's wage at the time was 7s per day) and at that rate the tramway would be a financial ruin. It had to be continued on to the larger settlement of Sanson without delay. On the way a spur was laid to a newly purchased gravel pit on Speedys Line (now Speedy Road) to provide metal to improve the county's roads. This section was completed in November 1885. A second engine, Wallaby, was purchased then. Service was twice daily. A large yard was built at Sanson, the engine shed and some of the workshops are still there. Immediately after the opening returns amounted to £70 per month - the line was profitable! By 1899 the resources of the Speedy Line gravel pit had long since expired and roading gravel was trained in from the government pit at Terrace End in Palmerston. To resolve this expense the line was extended to Pukenui to take advantage of the excellent gravel resources on the banks of the Rangitikei River.
This cache is hidden outside the Sanson tramway yards, which are now used by an agricultural contracting company. The station and platform is about 100m back down the road away from Sanson (that structure that looks like it might be a part of the platform is not the original platform, but it is where the platform was). The white building with the red roof here is the original engine shed. It used to have two large service pits, but they and the rails have been removed. The gantry crane for lifting an engine off its wheels is still there. Across the road is a cream building with a teal door. This was a grain store and for a while was a museum to the Sanson tramway, housing one of their engines. Alas, no longer. The agricultural contractors know about the cache and are expecting you.
The engine shed, 2013.
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Grain store and one time museum, 2013.
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Sanson , about 1897. Goods shed and water tower. Wallaby stands on the right.
R class locomotive, running backwards with a load of stone from Pukenui.
Crossing the main street of Sanson, 1944.
References:
Cassells, K.R.:"The The Sanson Tramway", published by the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society, 1962.
Methodist Archives: www.methodist.org.nz/touchstone/lead_articles/2005/may_2005/methodist_archives
Manawatu Herald, 11 October 1890
Our Region: www.ourregion.co.nz/sanson/
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cbxr