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Otira Railway station - Main refreshment stop for passengers travelling on Midland Railway.
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DescriptionOtira Railway station Nov 2019. Beautiful day as well.
Main refreshment stop for passengers travelling on Midland Railway.The ' Taumaranui' of the South.
Map[1] ContributorNeville Burt
Main refreshment stop for passengers travelling on Midland Railway.The ' Taumaranui' of the South.
Map[1] ContributorNeville Burt
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Location (city or town)OtiraLandmark (Place)Otira Railway StationOrganisation (eg business)N Z Railways
Category Information
Category TagRailways
From Facebook
Date Created5th April 2020CommentsHeather Newby Square pies and tea and Railways cups
Jo E Nicol We used to jump off for a cup of tea in a proper cup and cheese and onion sandwich !!
Heather Newby Oh... I just remembered cheese and onion sandwiches!! havent had one for years!
Heather Newby and the girls were lined up i their white pinnies behind the counter with the tea poiured into cups and the hot pies all in the row,, I think we had 15 minutes at the station
Arthur Dehn Heather Newby yes you are correct the conductor ? ... came through and yelled out 15 min refreshments ..... loved the pies !! Do they still make those pies?
Heather Newby Arthur Dehn not sure.. i dont think they make pies like they used to
Robert Mathewson Oh the fast run to the pub for a restock .
Heather Newby yes.. I heard about that too,, I didnt remember that till someone mentioned it a while back
Brent David Robert Mathewson I’m sure a few tripped up & smashed their tallys....
Kathy Duthie use to livehere
Kay Slattery Me too used to live in the green house next to the hall some lovely memories.
Colin Pattinson Stevenson famous square pies
Heather Taylor Colin Pattinson I loved them
M
Arthur Bass Colin Pattinson used to be reffered to as "a square meal"
Colin Pattinson Or Stevenson famous flies pies
Jeanie Nicol Yum best sandwiches ever
Margi Adamson The sammies
Ngaire Jones My parents lived in Otira for a winter... in a railway carriage,with my brother Alan & I as preschoolers.
Myron Caldwell This now doubt is today!!!! I feel sorry for those in business who rely on traveller, local or foreign and no income..
Glenys Elizabeth Martin Lived there for a few years worked at refreshment rooms for a while .over,y crowd to work for in fact Livi g in Otira was a great live especially for Children and great Social life for adults and children,
Lynette Campbell We lived in Arthur's pass I used to come over to Otira with our children to play centre . Good days
Doris Blanchard Memories of pies and cups of tea served in thick heavy crockery.
Anne Honey Remember a lovely weekend there with yr family. A kids paradise.
Lois Iacoppi They used to joke that the line was a trail of those heavy cups and they’d make good house piles
Craig Benbow For kids those pies were to die for..... and the sauce!!!
Sandra Douglas It was magic on train to stop for pie, sandwich & cuppa or
Tub ice cream
Noeline Pinn What a race it was to get there and be served in time. The guard would yell “ 15 minutes for refreshments at Otira” and everyone would race for the door! Was an all day trip in those days from .grey to Christchurch..
Graham Ruston Noeline Pinn are your related to Ron?
Noeline Pinn Graham Ruston He is my husband Des ‘s cousin.
James Codyre My Mum worked in the Railway Refreshment Rooms at Otira during the war and said it took nearly half an hour to serve the troop trains.
Lorraine O'Donoghue A local couple used to dress in rags and go scrounging in the rubbish bin when the railcar or train pulled in. A local joke!
Sandy Brears i used to go to school in Otira, travelled every day through from APNP.
1
Sandy Brears Heather Newby Arthers' Pass National
Linzi Woods In the days when it was a pie and or dry sandwich with a railway cuppa tea .... never heard of coffee then.
Myron Caldwell Linzi Woods. NZR ladies made a beautiful coffee from a big urn, but with hot milk. Had every trip throughout NZ late 50 mid 60's
David Carty My mum worked at that refreshment room when they lived there,
Ann Clark Went there in the holidays my sister lived there the Elliotts
Kathryn Ward Loved stopping here for refreshments
1
Heather Newby its hard to believe that it doesnt happen anymore.. those things
Mike Roberts I have wanted one of the original Temuka Railway cups for ages....and we used to have them in abundance ! Now, if you do find them, they are worth $$$$!
Ray Port The old Otira white tea cup and saucer must be worth heaps now.
They were built like tanks.
Glenys Elizabeth Martin Yes it was and we had lots of friends and family stay while we lived there and I think everyone enjoyed it especially when it snowed one Christmas day think that was 1975 or 1976
Ann-Maree Duncan Loved the salad rolls
Helen Ruscoe I loved the toasted spaghetti sandwiches in the 1970's.
Mary Moffitt I will always remember big, tall classmate, Roger Tennant, behind a crowd of people (about six deep)in there booming out with a request, "Two possum pies, please?"
I was about 1958, and there was utter silence, but nobody said a thing. There had been accusations about possum meat being used in pies, but I doubt that NZR would condone that.
Jo E Nicol We used to jump off for a cup of tea in a proper cup and cheese and onion sandwich !!
Heather Newby Oh... I just remembered cheese and onion sandwiches!! havent had one for years!
Heather Newby and the girls were lined up i their white pinnies behind the counter with the tea poiured into cups and the hot pies all in the row,, I think we had 15 minutes at the station
Arthur Dehn Heather Newby yes you are correct the conductor ? ... came through and yelled out 15 min refreshments ..... loved the pies !! Do they still make those pies?
Heather Newby Arthur Dehn not sure.. i dont think they make pies like they used to
Robert Mathewson Oh the fast run to the pub for a restock .
Heather Newby yes.. I heard about that too,, I didnt remember that till someone mentioned it a while back
Brent David Robert Mathewson I’m sure a few tripped up & smashed their tallys....
Kathy Duthie use to livehere
Kay Slattery Me too used to live in the green house next to the hall some lovely memories.
Colin Pattinson Stevenson famous square pies
Heather Taylor Colin Pattinson I loved them
M
Arthur Bass Colin Pattinson used to be reffered to as "a square meal"
Colin Pattinson Or Stevenson famous flies pies
Jeanie Nicol Yum best sandwiches ever
Margi Adamson The sammies
Ngaire Jones My parents lived in Otira for a winter... in a railway carriage,with my brother Alan & I as preschoolers.
Myron Caldwell This now doubt is today!!!! I feel sorry for those in business who rely on traveller, local or foreign and no income..
Glenys Elizabeth Martin Lived there for a few years worked at refreshment rooms for a while .over,y crowd to work for in fact Livi g in Otira was a great live especially for Children and great Social life for adults and children,
Lynette Campbell We lived in Arthur's pass I used to come over to Otira with our children to play centre . Good days
Doris Blanchard Memories of pies and cups of tea served in thick heavy crockery.
Anne Honey Remember a lovely weekend there with yr family. A kids paradise.
Lois Iacoppi They used to joke that the line was a trail of those heavy cups and they’d make good house piles
Craig Benbow For kids those pies were to die for..... and the sauce!!!
Sandra Douglas It was magic on train to stop for pie, sandwich & cuppa or
Tub ice cream
Noeline Pinn What a race it was to get there and be served in time. The guard would yell “ 15 minutes for refreshments at Otira” and everyone would race for the door! Was an all day trip in those days from .grey to Christchurch..
Graham Ruston Noeline Pinn are your related to Ron?
Noeline Pinn Graham Ruston He is my husband Des ‘s cousin.
James Codyre My Mum worked in the Railway Refreshment Rooms at Otira during the war and said it took nearly half an hour to serve the troop trains.
Lorraine O'Donoghue A local couple used to dress in rags and go scrounging in the rubbish bin when the railcar or train pulled in. A local joke!
Sandy Brears i used to go to school in Otira, travelled every day through from APNP.
1
Sandy Brears Heather Newby Arthers' Pass National
Linzi Woods In the days when it was a pie and or dry sandwich with a railway cuppa tea .... never heard of coffee then.
Myron Caldwell Linzi Woods. NZR ladies made a beautiful coffee from a big urn, but with hot milk. Had every trip throughout NZ late 50 mid 60's
David Carty My mum worked at that refreshment room when they lived there,
Ann Clark Went there in the holidays my sister lived there the Elliotts
Kathryn Ward Loved stopping here for refreshments
1
Heather Newby its hard to believe that it doesnt happen anymore.. those things
Mike Roberts I have wanted one of the original Temuka Railway cups for ages....and we used to have them in abundance ! Now, if you do find them, they are worth $$$$!
Ray Port The old Otira white tea cup and saucer must be worth heaps now.
They were built like tanks.
Glenys Elizabeth Martin Yes it was and we had lots of friends and family stay while we lived there and I think everyone enjoyed it especially when it snowed one Christmas day think that was 1975 or 1976
Ann-Maree Duncan Loved the salad rolls
Helen Ruscoe I loved the toasted spaghetti sandwiches in the 1970's.
Mary Moffitt I will always remember big, tall classmate, Roger Tennant, behind a crowd of people (about six deep)in there booming out with a request, "Two possum pies, please?"
I was about 1958, and there was utter silence, but nobody said a thing. There had been accusations about possum meat being used in pies, but I doubt that NZR would condone that.
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West Coast New Zealand History (6th Apr 2020). Otira Railway station - Main refreshment stop for passengers travelling on Midland Railway.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 22nd Apr 2026 03:31, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/27592