Pukewao is a locality in the southeastern corner of the Southland region of New Zealand's

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. It is located inland from

Toetoes Bay Toetoes Bay is the easternmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Te Waewae Bay and Oreti Beach. The 240 km Mataura River drains to sea at Toetoes Bay, first passing through the ...

in the very western part of the Catlins, and nearby settlements include Tokanui to the southeast,

Fortrose Fortrose (; gd, A' Chananaich, sco, Chainry) is a town and former royal burgh in Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom. It is on the Moray Firth, about north-east of Inverness. The burgh is a popular location for trying to spot bottlenose dolp ...

on the coast to the southwest, and

Te Peka Te Peka is a locality in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated on the western edge of the Catlins region, with Waimahaka to the west, Fortrose, New Zealand, Fortrose to the southwest, and Pukew ...

and Waimahaka to the northwest.

Railway

On 20 December 1911, an extension of the Seaward Bush Branch from Waimahaka through Pukewao to Tokanui was opened. This branch line

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

linked Pukewao with

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

, with passengers carried on mixed trains. In 1951, the mixed train was cut to operate just once per week, mainly for the benefit of families employed by the Railways Department who lived in the area; goods-only trains operated on other days. On 1 June 1960, passenger services were fully cancelled and trains through Pukewao catered solely for freight until the line officially closed on 31 March 1966 as freight levels had not been profitable for years. Some of the line's old

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

can still be seen in the vicinity of Pukewao.David Leitch and Brian Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998

995 Year 995 (Roman numerals, CMXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no ...

, 125-6.

References

Populated places in Southland, New Zealand The Catlins Southland District {{Southland-geo-stub