The Waimate Branch was 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 ...

built in southern

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, New Zealand to link 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 in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

with the town of

Waimate Waimate is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand and the seat of Waimate District. It is situated just inland from the eastern coast of the South Island. The town is reached via a short detour west when travelling on State Highway One, the main No ...

, the centre of the surrounding rural area. It opened in 1877 and operated until 1966; for some of this time, it included an extension to Waihao Downs that was known as the Waimate Gorge Branch or Waihao Downs Branch. When the line closed, Waimate received the dubious distinction of being New Zealand's first major town to lose its railway line.

Construction

Located roughly halfway between

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

and

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway ...

is the major market and service town for the surrounding district, but when the Main South Line between

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

and

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was constructed, it was built some 7 km to the east of the township so that it could follow a direct route along the coastal plain without deviating. Both government and residents agreed that a link from the main line village of Studholme to Waimate was necessary. In 1876, tenders were called for the line and the winning offer, George Pratt's of £4,831, was accepted on 10 March 1876."Wellington"
''North Otago Times'' 23(1220) 0 March 1876 2. Construction was not difficult and the branch opened on 19 March 1877. The first train was hauled by an A class

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

and had three carriages plus a guard's van. Two proposals for an extension were made, of which only one eventuated. The plan which did not eventuate was to link Waimate to either Duntroon or Livingstone. One of the proposals for the

Otago Central Railway The Otago Central Railway (OCR) or in later years Otago Central Branch Railway, now often referred to as the Taieri Gorge Railway, was a secondary railway line in Central Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand. Construction Construction of ...

was to build a line from

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, and in 1877 an invitation was extended to the Waimate County Council to partake in a plan to connect Waimate to the Oamaru-Naseby line in either Duntroon or Livingstone and thus establish a through route from

Central Otago Central Otago is located in the inland part of the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand. The motto for the area is "A World of Difference". The area is dominated by mountain ranges and the upper reaches of the Clutha River and tributa ...

."Oamaru - Naseby Railway Committee"
''North Otago Times'' 26(1626) July 1877 2. A deputation representing the advocates of the Oamaru-Naseby line made a presentation before the Waimate County Council on 12 July 1877, but the Council did not view the proposal as desirable."Waimate County Council"
''North Otago Times'' 26(1632) 3 July 1877 2. The Oamaru-Naseby proposal itself failed to come to fruition, with Duntroon ultimately served by the

Kurow Branch The Kurow Branch (also known as the Hakataramea Branch) was part of New Zealand's national rail network. In the North Otago region of the South Island, it was built in the 1870s to open up the land behind Oamaru for development, and closed in ...

and Livingstone located near the terminus of the Tokarahi Branch. The other extension proposal was for a line into the hinterland behind Waimate, and this one was successful. Local residents established the Waimate Railway Company in late 1878 to construct an extension from Waimate to the Waihao Valley, and work commenced after W. J. Black's tender for construction of the first section was accepted on 16 April 1882."Timaru"
''North Otago Times'' 28(3038) 7 April 1882 2. The initial 11.27 km were built quickly, with the line opened to Waihao Forks on 2 February 1883. Another 2.05 km of trackage to Waihao Downs followed, and this was opened on 24 April 1883, with a small locomotive depot established at the Waihao Downs station. On 1 April 1885, in accordance with the terms of the 1878 District Railways Act under which the Waimate Gorge Branch had been built, the government agreed to take control of the line. There was local pressure to extend the line further and some

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 ...

was constructed in 1914 with the goal of continuing the railway to Waihaorunga.

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

brought construction to a halt as resources were diverted elsewhere and work did not resume after the war ended. By 1924, the government had decided that extending rural branch lines was not profitable and thus permanently put an end to any plans to build beyond Waihao Downs.

Stations

The only station on the Waimate Branch was the terminus, located 7.42 km from the Main South Line junction in Studholme. The following stations were located on the Waimate Gorge Branch (in brackets is the distance in kilometres from Waimate): * Arno (?? km) * McLeans (?? km) * Waihao Forks (11.27 km) * Waihao Downs (13.32 km)''New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas'', fourth edition, edited by John Yonge (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 24.

Operation

From the opening of the Waimate Branch, a shuttle service operated between Waimate and the mainline at Studholme, while a daily

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 ...

ran between Waihao Downs and Waimate. Motive power on the Waimate Gorge Branch was provided by F^A class

s for many years, primarily by F^A 10, F^A 41, and F^A 251. Due to Waimate's status as the central town of the surrounding region, it attracted inbound freight from over 160 km away, and most outbound traffic went to

and the wharves located in those two centres. Waimate is known for its berry gardens, and at the height of the season in 1898, an average of five wagons of strawberries were railed out of Waimate daily. Passenger traffic on the line ceased and was replaced by buses on 9 February 1931, and around this time, the locomotive depot in Waihao Downs was closed and the Waimate Gorge Branch's regular daily mixed train was replaced by a goods service when required. Passenger trains did not become wholly absent from the Waimate Branch, as picnic trains still ran on occasions. Traffic surged during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in part due to petrol restrictions, but it slipped again with the coming of peace in 1945. New freight handling techniques and changes in coastal shipping patterns served to further lower the traffic on the branch, and with running costs mounting and deferred maintenance becoming more and more necessary, the government took the step of closing the Waihao Downs section on 11 December 1953 and then the entire line on 31 March 1966. All previous branch closures had been of lines serving rural areas and small townships, so Waimate became New Zealand's first major town to lose its railway connection if one excludes the 1955 closure of the isolated

Nelson Section The Nelson Section was an isolated government-owned railway line between Nelson and Glenhope in the Tasman district of New Zealand's South Island. While part of the New Zealand Government Railways, the section was never connected to the nation ...

(although it served only small settlements, it began in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

and was the only railway to serve the city).

Today

The remains of old railways typically perish with time due to both natural influences and human development, and the Waimate Branch is no exception. There are no readily obvious remnants of the line in the town of Waimate, though the formation between Waimate and the junction with the Main South Line can be clearly seen. Along the route of the Waimate Gorge Branch out of Waimate, the line's formation including a cutting, a bridge abutment, and some brick culverts can be located, and for about 5 km, a walkway follows the route of the line beside the

Waihao River The Waihao River is a natural watercourse in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It flows into the Wainono Lagoon near Studholme. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives translations of "water of net fishing" or " ...

.Central South Island Tourism
"The Strawberry Trail"
accessed 22 October 2007. At Waihao Forks, the old station still sits on a hillside with a carriage nearby, and at Waihao Downs, the loading bank and goods shed both exist in relatively good condition, though the goods shed has been added to on one side. Continuing past Waihao Downs, some of the formation created for the never-built extension is still visible.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * Hermann, Bruce J; ''South Island Branch Lines'' pp 17 (1997, New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society, Wellington) *

External links

Photo of an A Class loco at the opening of the Waimate Branch, 1877
{{NZR Lines Railway lines in New Zealand Rail transport in Canterbury, New Zealand Waimate Railway lines opened in 1877 Railway lines closed in 1966 Closed railway lines in New Zealand 1877 establishments in New Zealand