Springhills is a locality in the central

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

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 ...

. Situated in a gap between Forest Hill and the

Hokonui Hills The Hokonui Hills, also known as ''The Hokonui Mountains'' or simply ''The Hokonui'', are a range of hills in central Southland, New Zealand. They rise to 600 metres above the surrounding Southland Plains, of which the hills mark a northern extre ...

, it is located on 29 kilometres west of near

Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill. Geography Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line railwa ...

and 15 kilometres east of at Winton. From 1899 until 1953, Springhills was also served by 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 ...

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 ...

. The railway grew from a private

bush tramway A bush tram and line-side log hauler owned by the Tamaki Sawmill Co., Raurimu. Photographed by Albert Percy Godber circa 1917. In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, most commonly used for logging. They ar ...

built in 1883 that ran from a junction with the

Kingston Branch The Kingston Branch was a major railway line in Southland, New Zealand. It formed part of New Zealand's national rail network for over a century: construction began in 1864, Kingston was reached in 1878, and it closed in 1979. For much o ...

in Winton into the Browns Gap area. In the 1890s, the tramway was upgraded to railway standards, extended to Hedgehope, and handed over to the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

. This line was known as the

Hedgehope Branch The Hedgehope Branch, also known as the Browns Branch, was a branch line railway in Southland, New Zealand that started life in the 1880s as a privately owned bush tramway. It opened as a railway in 1899 and operated until 1968, though the ...

and it opened on 17 July 1899 with a station near Springhills known as Springhills Siding. Passenger services ceased on 9 February 1931, and due to declining freight tonnages, the Browns- Hedgehope section that passed through Springhills was closed on 24 December 1953. Little evidence remains of Springhills' railway heritage, though the former line's

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 sometimes be discerned.David Leitch and Brian Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998

995 Year 995 ( 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 Michikane gain ...

, 122.

References

Populated places in Southland, New Zealand {{Southland-geo-stub