Waimate Branch
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The Waimate Branch was a railway line built in south Canterbury, New Zealand to the major rural town of Waimate. It opened in 1877 and operated until 1966, and for some of this time, it included an extension to Waihao Downs that was known as the Waimate Gorge Branch. When the line closed, Waimate received the dubious honour of being New Zealand's first major town to lose its railway line.
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[edit] Construction
Located roughly halfway between Timaru and Oamaru, Waimate is the major market and service town for the surrounding district, but when the Main South Line between Christchurch and Dunedin was constructed, it was built some seven kilometres to the east of the township so that it could follow a direct route along the coastal plain without deviating. Both government and residents agreed that a link from the main line village of Studholme to Waimate was necessary, and in 1876, permission to build the line was granted. Construction was not difficult and the branch opened on 19 March 1877. Local residents established the Waimate Railway Company in late 1878 to construct an extension from Waimate to the Waihao Valley, and work commenced in 1882. The first eleven kilometres were built quickly, with the line opened to Waihao Forks on 2 February 1883. Another two and a half kilometres of trackage to Waihao Downs followed, and this was opened on 4 April 1884. There was local pressure to extend the line further and some formation was even constructed, but Waihao Downs remained the terminus and a locomotive depot was established at the station. On 1 April 1885, in accordance with the terms of the 1878 District Railways Act under which the Waihao Downs branch had been built, the government agreed to take control of the line. Local agitation for a further extension of the line continued for some years, but by 1924, the government decided that extending rural branch lines was not profitable and permanently put an end to any plans to build beyond Waihao Downs.
[edit] Operation
From the opening of the Waimate Branch, a shuttle service operated between Waimate and the main line at Studholme, while a daily "mixed train" that carried both passengers and freight ran between Waimate and Waihao Downs. Due to Waimate's status as the central town of the surrounding region, it attracted inbound freight from over 160 kilometres away, though most outbound traffic was to Timaru or Oamaru and the wharves located in those two centres. Passenger traffic on the line ceased and was replaced by buses on 9 February 1931, and around this time, the locomotive depot in Waihao Downs was closed and the Waimate Gorge Branch's regular daily service was replaced by a goods train when required. Passenger trains did not become wholly absent from the Waimate Branch, as picnic trains still ran on occasions.
Traffic surged during World War II, in part due to petrol restrictions, but it slipped again with the coming of peace in 1945. New freight handling techniques and changes in shipping served to further lower the traffic on the branch, and with running costs mounting and deferred maintenance becoming more and more necessary, the government took the step of closing the Waihao Downs section on 11 December 1953 and then the entire line on 31 March 1966. All previous branch closures had been of lines serving rural areas and small townships, so Waimate became New Zealand's first major town to lose its railway connection if one excludes the 1955 closure of the Nelson Section (although it served only small settlements, it began in Nelson and was the only railway to serve the city).
[edit] The branch today
The remains of old railways typically perish with time due to both natural influences and human development, and the Waimate Branch is no exception. There are no readily obvious remnants of the line in the town of Waimate, though the formation between Waimate and the junction with the Main South Line at Studholme can be clearly seen. Along the route of the Waimate Gorge Branch out of Waimate, the line's formation including a cutting, a bridge abutment, and some brick culverts can be located. At Waihao Forks, the old station still sits on a hillside with a carriage nearby, and at Waihao Downs, the loading bank and goods shed both exist in surprisingly good condition, though the goods shed has been added to on one side. Continuing past Waihao Downs, some of the formation created for a never-built extension is still visible.
[edit] References
- 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
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