Roxburgh Branch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Roxburgh Branch was a branch line railway built in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island that formed part of the country's national rail network. Originally known as the Lawrence Branch, it was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand railway history, beginning in the 1870s and not being finished until 1928. The full line was closed in 1968.
Contents |
[edit] Construction
The original reason for the line's construction was to provide better transport access to Lawrence, then known as Tuapeka, the site of New Zealand's first significant discovery of gold. Contracts for construction were let by mid-1873, and work on the line was well under way by the next year, with a junction with the Main South Line established at Clarksville. Slips and contractor bankruptcies presented delays, but on 22 January 1877, the line opened to Waitahuna, followed by Lawrence on 2 April 1877, 35.27km from Clarksville.
Calls were made to extend the Lawrence Branch further, with some proposals suggesting a route via Roxburgh could serve as the railway to Alexandra and Central Otago in general (instead, the Otago Central Railway followed a more circuitous route via the Taieri and Maniototo). Decades passed until approval was granted to extent the line beyond its Lawrence terminus, with the next section to Big Hill (location of a tunnel between the Bowlers Flat and Craigellachie stations) opened on 4 October 1910. Upon completion of the 434m long Big Hill tunnel, the line was opened to Beaumont on 15 December 1914, but World War I delayed construction and the next section to Millers Flat was not opened until 16 December 1925. The line was finally completed when the section from Millers Flat to Roxburgh was opened on 18 April 1928. A modified form of the proposal to use Roxburgh as the route to Central Otago resurfaced, proposing that the branch be extended to meet the Central Otago Railway in Alexandra, but this did not come to fruition.
The junction of the Roxburgh Branch with the Main South Line did not always remain in Clarksville. In 1907, an extension of 2.8km was built alongside the Main South Line into Milton to provide for better operation, and until this extension was closed on 19 September 1960, Milton rather than Clarksville acted as the junction.
[edit] Stations
The following stations were located on the Roxburgh Branch (in brackets is the distance from Clarksville):
- Glenore (5km)
- Mount Stuart (8km)
- Manuka (11km)
- Round Hill (16km)
- Johnstone (20km)
- Waitahuna (24km)
- Forsyth (29km)
- Lawrence (35km)
- Evans Flat (41km)
- Bowlers Creek (44km)
- Craigellachie (52km)
- Beaumont (56km)
- Craig Flat (60km)
- Rigney (71km)
- Minzion (76km)
- Millers Flat (79km)
- Teviot (88km)
- Roxburgh (95km)
Six of these stations possessed goods sheds and eight had cattle and sheep yards.
[edit] Operation
Like many other branch lines in rural New Zealand, the line typically operated with one "mixed" train of passengers and freight each way per day. Roxburgh is located in an important stone fruit growing region, and during the appropriate season, special trains would run to carry the large quantities of fruit. The construction of the Roxburgh Dam also provided much traffic for the line.
Passengers were not plentiful and the line became freight-only from 4 September 1936. This was an attempt to improve the profitability of the line, but it did not work; from the opening of the final section to Roxburgh, the branch always made a working loss, with much traffic lost to road transport operators even before the line reached its greatest length. Steep grades and sharp curves that limited speeds further served to lessen rail's competitiveness.
In 1959-1960, the line carried 9,900 tonnes of freight out and 24,400 tonnes inwards, as well as 16,000 cattle and 51,800 sheep. Losses were increasing, and on 20 June 1961, it was announced that the line would be closed. Public outcry was severe enough that the line received a reprieve, and promises of extra traffic led to an increase in tonnage by 1965. This good news for the line's future did not last, however; by 1967, losses amounted to $100,000 a year and 1 April 1968 was announced as the date the line would close. Again, closure was deferred, but when a deal to export logs from the vicinity of Beaumont did not eventuate and fruit traffic shifted to road, the line's demise became inevitable and it closed on 1 June 1968.
[edit] The branch today
Although remnants of closed railway lines deteriorate and disappear over time, a number of relics from the Roxburgh Branch still exist. The line's formation can often be sighted winding through the countryside and the Manuka tunnel is still in place, though the Big Hill tunnel is not. In a paddock near a road, Waitahuna retains its goods shed, station building, and even open-roofed men's toilet. Unfortunately, some other station buildings have not been so lucky; Forsyth's passenger shelter collapsed in 1990, while Lawrence's station was demolished. Lawrence does, however, retain its goods shed and coal shed. In Rigney, an old boxcar remains at the site of the former yard, with another boxcar located a couple of kilometres from Teviot, while just out of Beaumont, the bridge over the Beaumont River is still in use for private vehicle access. Stockyards remain at the sites of Mount Stuart, Beaumont, Evans Flat, and Millers Flat stations, with the latter two also still in possession of their platforms. Loading banks can be found in Manuka, Evans Flat, Bowlers Creek, and Craigellachie, and a derelict goods shed is in Teviot. A number of relics remain in Roxburgh from its days as a railway terminus; these include a water tank for steam locomotives, the station building converted for farm use, loading banks, a turntable pit, and even the concrete stop block that signified the end of the branch.
A proposal has been made to convert the branch's former route into a rail trail much like the Otago Central Rail Trail that follows the route of the former Otago Central Railway. Although progress on the proposal has reportedly been made, it is yet to come to fruition.
[edit] Reference
[edit] External link
- Brian's Ghost Railways - Roxburgh Branch: contains some pictures of relics.
[edit] Resources
- Churchman, Geoffrey B., and Hurst, Tony; The Railways Of New Zealand: A Journey Through History, HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand), 1991 reprint
- Leitch, David, and Scott, Brian; Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways, Grantham House, 1998 revised edition
| New Zealand Railway Lines | ||||||
|
| Secondary lines |
|---|
| class="navbox collapsible autocollapse" |
| North Island: |
| Marton - New Plymouth Line - North Auckland Line - Palmerston North - Gisborne Line - Stratford - Okahukura Line - Wairarapa Line |
| South Island: |
|---|
| Midland Line - Nelson Section - Otago Central Railway - Stillwater - Westport Line - Waimea Plains Railway |
|}
| Branch lines |
|---|
| class="navbox collapsible autocollapse" |
| Upper North Island |
| Cambridge - Dargaville - Donnelly's Crossing - Glen Afton - Kinleith - Kumeu-Riverhead - Mount Maunganui - Murupara - Newmarket - Okaihau - Onehunga - Onerahi - Opua - Rotorua - Taneatua - Thames - Waiuku and Mission Bush |
| Lower North Island |
|---|
| Ahuriri - Castlecliff and Wanganui - Foxton - Greytown - Johnsonville - Melling - Mount Egmont - Moutohora - Ngatapa - Opunake - Raetihi - Taonui - Te Aro - Waitara |
| Upper South Island |
|---|
| Blackball and Roa - Cape Foulwind - Conns Creek - Eyreton - Fairlie - Little River - Lyttelton - Methven - Mount Somers - Oxford - Rapahoe - Rewanui - Hokitika/Ross - Seddonville - Southbridge - Waiau - Waimate - Whitecliffs |
| Lower South Island |
|---|
| Bluff - Catlins River - Dunback and Makareao - Fernhill - Hedgehope - Kingston - Kurow - Moeraki - Mossburn - Ngapara and Tokarahi - Outram - Port Chalmers - Roxburgh - Shag Point - Tapanui - Tokanui - Tuatapere - Waikaia - Waikaka - Wairio - Walton Park - Wyndham |
|}
| Private lines |
|---|
| Glen Massey Branch - Dunedin Peninsula and Ocean Beach Railway - Dun Mountain Railway - Hutt Park Railway - Kaitangata Line - Sanson Tramway - Wellington and Manawatu Railway |
|}
