Kapuka is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's

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 situated between Mokotua to the west and Ashers to the east on the

Southern Scenic Route The Southern Scenic Route is a scenic route, tourist highway in New Zealand linking Queenstown, New Zealand, Queenstown, Fiordland, Te Anau and the iconic Milford Road to Dunedin via Riverton, New Zealand, Riverton, Invercargill and The Catli ...

; Oteramika is to the north, and Kapuka South,

Waituna Lagoon __NOTOC__ The Waituna Lagoon is on the southern coastline of the South Island of New Zealand. It forms part of the Awarua Wetland, a Ramsar site that was established in 1976. It gives its name to waituna, a type of ephemeral coastal lake. The ...

, and Toetoes Bay are to the south.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

figures prominently in Kapuka's economy due to its rural location. It has been the site of experimentation to improve the milk output of

dairy cattle Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred with the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ...

by introducing genes of European

holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

breeds. Significant

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposits are also located in the vicinity of Kapuka. The Ashers-Waituna

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

contains roughly 746 million

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s of recoverable coal. Exploratory work has been undertaken, but commercial mining has not yet taken place.

Railway

On 1 March 1895, an extension of the Seaward Bush Branch from Mokotua to

Gorge Road Gorge Road is a locality in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is on the Southern Scenic Route and is situated on the western bank of the Mataura River. Nearby settlements include Ashers to the west, and across the Mataur ...

was opened, with a station located in Kapuka. At one point, the station was actually named Oteramika. Trains operated from Invercargill and return only a couple of times a week until a further extension to

Waimahaka Waimahaka is a locality in the Southland, New Zealand, Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. It is situated in a rural area, inland from Toetoes Bay. Nearby settlements include Pine Bush, New Zealand, Pine Bush and Titiroa to the nor ...

opened in 1899. At this point,

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 from Waimahaka to Invercargill and return began operating through Kapuka daily. The line's profitability declined from the 1930s, and in 1951, the mixed train was cut to run just once a week as a cost-saving measure, with goods-only trains on other days. On 1 June 1960, all passenger services through Kapuka were cancelled; freight also continued to remain at unprofitable levels, and the whole line closed on 31 March 1966. 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 secondary ...

can still be seen in the vicinity of Kapuka.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 of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 17 May - Fujiwara no Michitaka (imperial regent) dies. * 3 June: Fujiwara no Michikane gains power and becomes Rege ...

, 125–126.

References

{{coord, 46, 28, S, 168, 38, E, display=title, region:NZ_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in the Southland Region