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Kōrero: King Country places

Taumarunui on the main trunk line

Audio file

Taumarunui was the archetypal railway town and was a refreshment stop for passenger trains on the main trunk line as they travelled up and down the North Island. This is the main street, Hakiaha Street (and State Highway 4), and the railway line in 1913, 10 years after the line reached the town. Listen to Peter Cape's 1950s folk song 'Taumarunui on the main trunk line'.

Sound file from New Zealand: Our land our music, disc 1, track 18. Courtesy of Kiwi Pacific Records International

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Abundant Past, McElwain Collection

Reference: 10991

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Kerryn Pollock, King Country places – Taumarunui, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/music/34806/taumarunui-on-the-main-trunk-line (accessed 25 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Kerryn Pollock, i tāngia i te 6 December 2011, updated 1 March 2015.