Bankside

	Sinlait_Dairy								Bankside							Rakaia
Sinlait_Dairy--Bankside													Bankside--Rakaia
7.9km													3.1km

Go to Bankside on the Network Diagram

STATION NAME-- Named from the locality, being on the 'side of the bank' of the Rakaia River

Bankside was not one of the original railway stations on the Canterbury Provincial Railways "Great Southern Railway" first opened between Selwyn and Rakaia on 2 June 1873 to 1600mm gauge with conversion to 1067mm gauge commencing on 24 August 1874. On 23 Jan 1878 a private siding was granted to a Mr J. J. Loe for grain storage, at a site approximately midway between Rakaia and Dunsandle, however, this siding does not appear in the 1879 Working Timetable. Bankside seems to have been a recognised location as early as 1878 and for reference, the mileages of stations in this vicinity are listed below:

Dunsandel    24 miles 40 chain 1873 - c.1980
Loe's Siding 29 miles 60 chain 1878 - 1881
Bankside     30 miles 44 chain 1881 - 1970
Rakaia       35 miles 40 chain 1873 - c.1995

This puts Loe's Siding 64 chains (1287m) north of Bankside, with no indication on which side of the track the siding was. The siding agreement was terminated in June 1881. By 1881, a loop siding with a capacity of 35 wagons had been constructed at Bankside and with the closing of Loe's Siding, the grain shed there was offered for sale to the government and relocated to Bankside. From the above, it can be assumed that Bankside was constructed as a replacement for Loe's Siding, offering a public loading siding and passenger facilities.