Waikaka Branch
Encyclopedia
The Waikaka Branch was a branch line
railway of the Main South Line
that ran through agricultural and gold-mining country in Southland, New Zealand
. It was constructed in 1907 and 1908, and was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department
until its closure in 1962.
had already been linked to the Dunedin
-Invercargill
portion of the Main South Line at Waipahi by the Tapanui Branch
, but a prominent proposal supported another link, this time from Kelso via the Waikaka Valley to Gore
on the Main South Line. In 1878, this line was approved by the government and an official survey
of the route was anticipated in early 1880, but governmental inaction meant that the proposal lapsed and by 1886, residents of the Waikaka Valley had lost hope that a railway would be built. The prospect of a railway was not seriously revived until 1897 when a community financing initiative in the North Island
was approved to construct a line from Paeroa
to Waihi
(later part of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway). Pressure paid off in 1904 when a branch line to the village of Waikaka was included in the government's Railways Authorisation Act, but official procrastination meant construction did not commence. The through line from Gore to Kelso still had support; in February 1905, Southland business interests urged the government to begin construction of the Gore-Kelso line and to link the Tapanui Branch with the Roxburgh Branch, as trade that they felt should rightfully benefit Southland was instead benefitting Otago
due to superior railway access to Dunedin. No significant action was taken to achieve this proposal, but later in 1905, a company was established by local residents to advance half the construction costs of the approved branch to the government, and this led to the passage of the Waikaka Branch Railway Act. When the promised money eventuated, construction of the line commenced on 18 April 1907, with the first sod turned by the Acting Prime Minister
, Joseph Ward
. The branch left the Main South Line just east of Gore at a locality called McNab. Locals under supervision rather than contractors or engineers built the line twenty-one kilometres up the valley to Waikaka, and it was completed in late 1908. On 26 November 1908, the line was handed over to the Railways Department and the official opening was held the following day.
, operated from the terminus to Gore and return. The valley of the branch directly paralleled the Pomahaka Valley that was followed by the Tapanui Branch
, and they were sufficiently close that locomotive crews on one branch claimed that they could see the smoke from the steam locomotive
of a train in the other valley.
On 9 February 1931, regular passenger services were cancelled due to poor patronage and the locomotive depot in Waikaka was closed in an attempt to improve the branch's finances as it had been losing money for a few years. These measures temporarily improved its prospects and trains operated from Gore to Waikaka and return, but by 1950, although revenue had doubled, so had expenses. Improvements in quality and access to road transportation meant that the use of the railway by farmers decreased - by 1950, the train ran only thrice weekly, and not much later, this level of service was further reduced to twice weekly. These services were augmented by highly infrequent excursions, the most notable of which was chartered by the Waikaka Valley Presbyterian Church on 26 March 1962 to convey almost 800 passengers in 12 carriages and 2 vans to Racecourse station on the Wyndham Branch
for a picnic near Wyndham
. The motive power used on the service was typical of the latter decades of the branch: an A class
locomotive on the service out of Waikaka, and an AB class
locomotive on the return working.
The line would have been a candidate for closure sometime in the early 1950s like other similar branches in New Zealand, but due to the lack of bridges or tunnels, it was ideal for carrying large, heavy items for the construction of the Roxburgh Dam
. This freight sustained the line into the 1960s, but upon completion of the dam, there was not sufficient traffic to justify the branch's continued existence and it was closed on 9 September 1962.
is well defined through the countryside for some of its length, and structures of obvious railway origin can be found in Waikaka, such as former Railways Department housing provided for staff based in Waikaka when its locomotive depot was operational.
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...
railway of the Main South Line
Main South Line
The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railroad line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Invercargill via Dunedin...
that ran through agricultural and gold-mining country in Southland, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It was constructed in 1907 and 1908, and was operated by the New Zealand Railways Department
New Zealand Railways Department
The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway system. The Department was created in 1880 and was reformed in 1981 into the New...
until its closure in 1962.
Construction
The Waikaka Branch was the last of the minor branches of northern Southland to be authorised, though proposals had existed for decades beforehand. Poor transportation access was causing farm values to depreciate while wagoning costs were prohibitive, and settlers petitioned the government for a railway line to improve their economic prospects. The town of KelsoKelso, New Zealand
Kelso was a small settlement in Otago, New Zealand, located ten kilometres north of Tapanui on the Kelso River, close to its junction with the larger Pomahaka River...
had already been linked to the Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
-Invercargill
Invercargill
Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...
portion of the Main South Line at Waipahi by the Tapanui Branch
Tapanui Branch
The Tapanui Branch was a railway line located near the border of the regions of Southland and Otago, New Zealand. Although the name suggests that it terminated in Tapanui, its furthest terminus was actually in Edievale...
, but a prominent proposal supported another link, this time from Kelso via the Waikaka Valley to Gore
Gore, New Zealand
Gore is a town, surrounding borough, and district in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand.-Geography:The Gore District has a land area of 1,251.62 km² and a resident population of...
on the Main South Line. In 1878, this line was approved by the government and an official survey
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
of the route was anticipated in early 1880, but governmental inaction meant that the proposal lapsed and by 1886, residents of the Waikaka Valley had lost hope that a railway would be built. The prospect of a railway was not seriously revived until 1897 when a community financing initiative in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
was approved to construct a line from Paeroa
Paeroa
Paeroa is a small town in New Zealand, in the northern Waikato region of the Thames Valley. Located at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, it is close to the junction of the Waihou and Ohinemuri Rivers, 20 kilometres from the coast at the Firth of Thames...
to Waihi
Waihi
Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. It had a population of 4,503 at the 2006 census....
(later part of the East Coast Main Trunk Railway). Pressure paid off in 1904 when a branch line to the village of Waikaka was included in the government's Railways Authorisation Act, but official procrastination meant construction did not commence. The through line from Gore to Kelso still had support; in February 1905, Southland business interests urged the government to begin construction of the Gore-Kelso line and to link the Tapanui Branch with the Roxburgh Branch, as trade that they felt should rightfully benefit Southland was instead benefitting Otago
Otago
Otago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
due to superior railway access to Dunedin. No significant action was taken to achieve this proposal, but later in 1905, a company was established by local residents to advance half the construction costs of the approved branch to the government, and this led to the passage of the Waikaka Branch Railway Act. When the promised money eventuated, construction of the line commenced on 18 April 1907, with the first sod turned by the Acting Prime Minister
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
, Joseph Ward
Joseph Ward
Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, GCMG was the 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the early 20th century.-Early life:...
. The branch left the Main South Line just east of Gore at a locality called McNab. Locals under supervision rather than contractors or engineers built the line twenty-one kilometres up the valley to Waikaka, and it was completed in late 1908. On 26 November 1908, the line was handed over to the Railways Department and the official opening was held the following day.
Stations
The following stations were on the Waikaka Branch (in brackets is the distance from the junction in McNab):- Howe (2.54 km) - also called Howes.
- Willowbank (7.16 km)
- Maitland (11.79 km)
- Fleming (14.83 km)
- Pullar (16.6 km)
- Waikaka (20.82 km) - a small locomotive depotMotive power depotMotive power depot, usually abbreviated to MPD, is a name given to places where locomotives are stored when not being used, and also repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds", or, for short, just sheds. Facilities are provided for refuelling and...
was located at the station.
Operation
The branch was a typical New Zealand rural branch servicing farms. No towns or major industries existed at any point along the line. Branches such as this were useful to open up internal New Zealand to commercial farming, and the Waikaka Branch provided local farmers with invaluable access to markets before the development of modern road transportation. A daily service carrying both passengers and freight, known as a mixed trainMixed train
A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...
, operated from the terminus to Gore and return. The valley of the branch directly paralleled the Pomahaka Valley that was followed by the Tapanui Branch
Tapanui Branch
The Tapanui Branch was a railway line located near the border of the regions of Southland and Otago, New Zealand. Although the name suggests that it terminated in Tapanui, its furthest terminus was actually in Edievale...
, and they were sufficiently close that locomotive crews on one branch claimed that they could see the smoke from the steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
of a train in the other valley.
On 9 February 1931, regular passenger services were cancelled due to poor patronage and the locomotive depot in Waikaka was closed in an attempt to improve the branch's finances as it had been losing money for a few years. These measures temporarily improved its prospects and trains operated from Gore to Waikaka and return, but by 1950, although revenue had doubled, so had expenses. Improvements in quality and access to road transportation meant that the use of the railway by farmers decreased - by 1950, the train ran only thrice weekly, and not much later, this level of service was further reduced to twice weekly. These services were augmented by highly infrequent excursions, the most notable of which was chartered by the Waikaka Valley Presbyterian Church on 26 March 1962 to convey almost 800 passengers in 12 carriages and 2 vans to Racecourse station on the Wyndham Branch
Wyndham Branch
The Wyndham Branch, also known as the Glenham Branch, was a branch line railway in Southland, New Zealand. The first section was opened in 1882 and it operated until 1962. Although its name would imply that it terminated in Wyndham, an extension to a terminus in Glenham operated for forty years...
for a picnic near Wyndham
Wyndham, New Zealand
Wyndham is a rural town of 550 people in the South Island of New Zealand in the Southland region, 45 km east of Invercargill and 25 km south of Gore. The original Māori name of the locality was Mokoreta .Wyndham was named for General Sir Charles Ashe Windham who fought in the Crimean War...
. The motive power used on the service was typical of the latter decades of the branch: an A class
NZR A class
NZR A class may refer to:* NZR A class ; 14 tank locomotives* NZR A class ; 57 tender locomotives...
locomotive on the service out of Waikaka, and an AB class
NZR Ab class
The NZR AB class was a class of 4-6-2 Pacific tender steam locomotive that operated on New Zealand's national railway system. Originally an improvement on the 1906 A class, 141 were built between 1915 and 1927 by NZR's Addington Workshops, A & G Price Limited of Thames, New Zealand, and North...
locomotive on the return working.
The line would have been a candidate for closure sometime in the early 1950s like other similar branches in New Zealand, but due to the lack of bridges or tunnels, it was ideal for carrying large, heavy items for the construction of the Roxburgh Dam
Roxburgh Dam
The Roxburgh Dam is the earliest of the large hydroelectric projects in the southern South Island of New Zealand. It lies across the Clutha River / Mata-Au, some from Dunedin, some to the north of the town of Roxburgh...
. This freight sustained the line into the 1960s, but upon completion of the dam, there was not sufficient traffic to justify the branch's continued existence and it was closed on 9 September 1962.
The branch today
Traces of the branch line's existence remain evident today. In Willowbank, a preserved windmill, wooden water tank, and a Historic Places plaque can be found at the site of the former yard. Stockyards and loading chutes can be found preserved in Fleming. The former railbedTrack bed
A track bed or trackbed is the term used to describe the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links....
is well defined through the countryside for some of its length, and structures of obvious railway origin can be found in Waikaka, such as former Railways Department housing provided for staff based in Waikaka when its locomotive depot was operational.