Mākareao 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 ...

. To the west is

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. ...

and to the south is

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 ...

and the nearest significantly populated town, Palmerston.

Economy

As with the surrounding area,

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 ...

is an important economic activity. Deposits of

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

are also located in Mākareao and accordingly a limeworks operates. In 1990, Taylor's Lime opened a new plant at Mākareao replacing one formerly operated at

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

Transport

No major roads pass through Makareao. State Highway 85 passes through Dunback on the other side of the Shag River from Mākareao. From 1900 until 1989, Mākareao was the terminus of a short

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 ...

. On 29 August 1885, a branch had been opened to Dunback from a junction with 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, but to provide better access to the lime deposits, a sub-branch was built from Inch Valley to Mākareao. Together, the two lines were 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 ...

and the Mākareao portion served solely the limeworks; it did not carry passengers or general freight. It was just under 4 km long and opened on 31 March 1900. The terminus in Mākareao was a modest affair, with just loading bins for the lime and a loop to hold 26 wagons. On 1 January 1968, the Dunback portion of the branch closed and the 11 km section between Palmerston and Inch Valley operated solely to carry Mākareao lime. The demise of the line was sudden. Trains ran thrice weekly to carry the lime to a

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

-based cement factory, and when this factory closed in 1988, the reason for the line's existence disappeared. The line was formally closed on 1 June 1989, but railway remnants remain at the Mākareao terminus and the line's disused formation can still be seen between Mākareao and Inch Valley.Leitch and Scott, ''Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways'', 89.

References

{{Waitaki District Populated places in Otago Waitaki District