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The Taupo Totara Timber Company (TTT) was a New Zealand timber, timber products, and building supplies company that operated between 1900 and 1972. The company was founded in 1900 by a group of business people led by E. Tudor Atkinson, and began marketing timber in 1905. Until 1945, the TTT also operated one of New Zealand's longest privately-owned railway lines, providing freight and mail services between Putāruru and Taupō, in the central North Island. The TTT was taken over by New Zealand Forest Products in 1972.

History

The Taupo Totara Timber Company was formed 1900 in Wellington, New Zealand, by a group of business people led by E. Tudor Atkinson. Its objective was to harvest and market timber from forests near the village of Mokai, 23 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of Taupō, in the North Island of New Zealand.

TTT Railway

Main article: Taupo Totara Timber Railway

In 1900, transportation in the Mokai area was limited to horse-drawn vehicles, with bullock teams providing heavy freight services. The TTT needed rail transport, and this necessitated the construction of a railway line between the sawmill and the nearest existing railhead: The NZ Government Railway at Putāruru.

TTT director and former Wellington and Manawatu Railway engineer and James Fulton designed an 82 kilometres (51 mi) contour railway to address the transportation problem. The line was built between 1903 and 1905 by John McLean & Sons. In addition to carrying timber from the TTT sawmill at Mokai, the TTT railway provided a mail, freight, and passenger service for communities between Putāruru and Taupō. The railway closed on 26 October 1944. The 19 miles (31 km) section from Putāruru to the "19-Mile Peg" was sold to the New Zealand Government Railways. The remainder was removed.

Trading

Following the completion of the TTT railway in November 1905, the company was able to begin marketing timber.

=Original text from TTT, 1951 - to use a a rough guide

Mr. H.B. Coupe was appointed manager.... He cut down expenses, gave up the unprofitable Wellington market, shifted the office to Putaruru and opened a yard in Newmarket, Auckland being the natural outlet for the Company's timber. In a short time the Company was on a profit-making basis.

Under Mr. Coupe's management the company prospered and during the war and for some years after good profits were made, the highlight being the year 1920 when the profits were £30,747. …

This expectation seemed justified, for the average profits of the previous four years had been over £15,000 per annum. The next year[1926], however, with £19,382 profit was the high water mark of that period, and profits began to dwindle, and in 1932, with the advent of the worldwide slump, turned to losses for that and the two following years.

… But with the advent of the war in 1939 came heavy rising taxation and the high proportion of preference capital caused a serious position. In bad times preference capital is much safer than debentures, as no dividend need be paid unless it is earned. With war and high taxation, a much larger profit had to be earned to pay the dividend and at one period during the war the Company had to earn nearly £20,000 profit to pay the £6630 dividend due on the Preference issue. …

… in 1947 the share capital showed in the Balance Sheet as under:- Ordinary Shares: 175,107 of 10/- each fully paid - £87,553.

… Mr. Coupe was manager for 30 years and a director till his death in 1941.

… Tauri Tutukau is a mixed bush of Rimu, Matai and Totara, with the Rimu preponderating, and only about 15% Totara. However, Rimu is more valuable now than Totara was a few years ago.

The Maroa bush is probably the finest block of native bush left in the North Island and comprises about 4000 acres of freehold land. It stands in the books at £42,340, but at market value is worth many times that amount. The bush was estimated by the New Zealand Forest Service to contain 100 million board feet of rimu, 20 milllion feet of matai, and 20 million feet of totara. The Company has cut out about 19 million feet and about 20 million feet have been sold to other sawmillers. As, however, the area so far cut out has produced very much more than the estimate, it may be regarded as conservative.

The roads for working the bush have been surveyed and laid out and partly constructed. They are surfaced with pumice obtained near the road, and preliminary trials have shown that they can be kept in good order quite cheaply. Working the bush in this manner will make it more flexible and easier organized than by a steam tram and log haulers. Mr J. McPherson is in charge of the bush workings.

The Taupo-Totara Timber Co, purchased 25 substantially built cottages used by them [NZR]. They were well laid out in streets, well painted, with water laid on, and have been supplemented by 25 other houses, partly built by the Company and partly built under the subsidised scheme initiated by the N.Z. Forest Service, which lets them on easy terms to the sawmillers. The 50 houses now form a compact township called Maroa, with a good public hall and school and a privately owned store.

Power [for the Maroa mill] is generated in three boilers each over 60 horsepower. They are fired chiefly by sawdust … As wet sawdust is difficult to burn forced draught from fans is used to help combustion. This system thus provides power and disposes of the sawdust. All the sawdust is burnt with a few additional slabs used chiefly for starting the firing.

Putaruru has undergone considerable development in the last few years. Previously Newmarket provided the main outlet for the timber produced and most of the remaining timber was sold on rail. Lately the growth of Putaruru has been such that the local demand now absorbs half the mill output, the other half going to Newmarket.

A new dressing plant has just been completed [at Putaruru] to replace the one lost by fire about eighteen months ago. This is designed for much more economical working than formerly, and a large incinerator has been built which burns all the shavings and sawdust produced in the plant, the machines all being driven by electric motors. A well-designed fan system takes all the shavings and sawdust direct from the machines to the incinerator.

In addition, Hickson Timber Treatments have just installed a plant for treating timber with tanalith preservative under pressure. This is worked by the Taupo-Totara Timber Co. and a large output of treated timber is already being produced, the chief timber used being being Pinus Radiata and O.B. Matai. When treated, these timbers are now being used in place of heart timbers and are helping to eke out our valuable heart timbers.

The yard has been redesigned to allow of its being worked with a fork lift, which is functioning so successfully that another fork lift truck has been placed on order. All timber from the mill is now being unloaded by the fork lift, and timber for drying is  filleted on the ground and then placed in position on the stack by the lift. When dry, stacks for dressing are also taken down and placed in yard trucks by the lift, and then taken to the planing machines.

A Sash and Door plant is planned and machinery has been purchased, and the building will be erected shortly

Hardware sales are an important branch of business at Putaruru and showrooms and stores for holding stocks have been built. Sales from Putaruru have expanded very much.

Demand for Pinus Radiata is also increasing rapidly, specially since the installation of the treatment plant. Supplies are bought from millers in the district and help to supply orders which otherwise would have to be turned down.

Besides owning several sections in the town area, [of Putaruru] on which are built houses occupied by the staff, the Company owns an area of 45 acres, on which the dressing plant and yard and more houses owned by the Company are situated. The portion of this area not required for business purposes has a potential value for building sites and a subdivision plan is being prepared for this purpose.

A few years ago a dry kiln was installed, [at Newmarket] and dressing timbers now go directly into the kiln from railway trucks making it possible fulfill [sic? Check] orders for dry timbers in a few days.

TTT Railway

Main article: Taupo Totara Timber Railway

The 82 kilometres (51 mi) Taupo Totara Timber Company Railway was built for the TTT between 1903 and 1905 by John McLean & Sons to carry sawn timber from the TTT sawmill at Mokai (23 kilometres (14 mi) northwest of Taupō) to the government railway at Putāruru. It was designed as a contour[4] railway by former Wellington and Manawatu Railway engineer and TTT director James Fulton,[4][5] who in 1903 temporarily resigned his position on the TTT board to supervise construction of the railway and sawmills.

The TTT took over the completed railway in late 1905. In addition to sawn timber from the TTT mill, the railway carried passengers, mail, and freight for nearbvy settlements including Atiamuri, Oruanui, Ongaroto, Tokoroa, and Lichfield.

The TTT Railway closed on 26 October 1944. The company sold the 19 miles (31 km) section beetween Putāruru and Kopakorahi to the New Zealand Government. The Public Works Department continued to operate this section until 1947, using rolling purchased from the TTT.

Company structure

In 1900 & early 1901 Tudor Atkinson and his colleagues registered two companies:

• The Wellington Industrial Development Company (Limited) (WID)
• The Taupo Totara Timber Company (Limited) (TTT)

A board of directors, with three directors from each company, acted as a combined group. All six directors attended TTT/WID board meetings board meetings, simultaneously governing both companies.

A new company, the Taupo Totara Timber Co Ltd, was registered in 1915. This new company took over the assets and liabilities of the original TTT and WID, which were wound up.

Further Reading

• Cudby, Kevin (2001). Men of Pluck. Cudby Publications. ISBN 0-473-07505-9.
• Davis, Ida; Forshaw, Ruth (1990). Mokai. Taupō, NZ.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Jones, Stanley W. (1957). "The Taupo Totara Timber Co". New Zealand Engineering. 12/7: 237–239.
• Scherer, Vicki (1992). Putaruru: Home of the Owl. Tokoroa, NZ: South Waikato District Council.