Glenpark is a lightly populated rural locality in the

Otago Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...

region of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It is northwest of Palmerston and is on the banks of the Shag River. To the west is the locality of Stoneburn.

Economy

Economic activity in and around Glenpark is agricultural, including New Zealand's largest free range chicken farm.

Transport

Glenpark is located between Palmerston and

Inch Valley Inch Valley is a lightly populated rural locality in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island. It is northwest of Palmerston and Glenpark, east of Stoneburn, on the banks of the Shag River. Economic activity around Inch Valley is agric ...

on the route of State Highway 85. For 104 years, a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

that diverged from the

Main South Line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton, New Zealand, Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the ...

in Palmerston passed through Glenpark. This railway originally ran to

Dunback Dunback, formerly Waihemo, is a small town in the Otago region of New Zealand. It is located between Palmerston and Ranfurly on Highway 85. It has a population of about 200 people. Most of these people live in the rural areas near the town. ...

with a later sub-branch to Mākareao and was thus collectively known as the

Dunback and Makareao Branches The Dunback and Makareao Branches were two connected branch line railways, part of New Zealand's national rail network. Located in the Otago region of the South Island, both lines were in length and shared the first . The Dunback Branch, al ...

. It opened through Glenpark on 29 August 1885; the station was 7.23 km from the junction with the main line, near the halfway point of the 15.2 km long branch. Passenger services were provided solely by

mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In some countries, the term refers to a freight train carrying various different types of freight rather a single commodity. Although common in the ...

s and due to low patronage, they were cancelled on 10 August 1930 and Glenpark station became freight only. The station had a small

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before, after, and during loading to and unloading from a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, althou ...

, a loading bank, and a loop to hold 31 wagons. On 1 January 1968, the Dunback portion of the railway closed and trains ran solely to serve a limeworks in Makareao. Local freight ceased to be carried and trains ran through Glenpark without stopping thrice weekly. The line closed entirely on 1 June 1989 and the formation and a disused bridge are still visible in and near Glenpark.Leitch and Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', 89.

References

{{Waitaki District, New Zealand Populated places in Otago