Sergeants Hill is a lightly populated locality in the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

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 situated in a rural setting on the eastern outskirts of Westport in the

Buller District Buller District is one of 53 districts of New Zealand, and is within the West Coast Region. It covers Westport, Karamea, Reefton and Inangahua Junction. Buller District's overall land area is . The district is administered by the Buller Distri ...

. State Highway 67 and a

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote 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. Industrial spur An industri ...

of the Stillwater - Westport railway both pass through Sergeants Hill. The railway is part of the first line built in the Buller District; it opened on 31 December 1875 and linked Westport with Fairdown. The line subsequently grew into the

Seddonville Branch The Seddonville Branch, later truncated as the Ngākawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction began in 1874 and it reached its terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonvi ...

and was opened through to the

Seddonville Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast, New Zealand, West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry. Geography Seddonville is in the is ...

terminus on 23 February 1895. Passenger services through Sergeants Hill, which were always

mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. Although common in the early days of railways, by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. Typically, servic ...

s, were cancelled from 14 October 1946, and on 3 May 1981, the line was closed beyond

Ngakawau Hector and Ngakawau are two lightly populated settlements located at the mouth of the Ngakawau River in the West Coast region of New Zealand. Both settlements are situated on State Highway 67 between Westport and Karamea. Despite a low populatio ...

. Its sole traffic is now coal exported via the port of Lyttelton.David Leitch and Brian Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', rev. ed. (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998), 52-53.

References

Buller District Populated places in the West Coast, New Zealand {{WestCoastNZ-geo-stub