The Mount Somers Branch, sometimes known as the Springburn Branch, was a

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 ...

in the region of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, New Zealand. The line was built in stages from 1878, reaching

Mount Somers Mount Somers () is a small town in Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury, New Zealand, nestled in the foothills of the Southern Alps. The population in the 2021 census was 160. Due to its scenic location, it has seen growth in the number of holi ...

in 1885. A further section to Springburn was added in 1889; this closed in 1957, followed by the rest of the line in 1968. A portion has been preserved as the Plains Vintage Railway.

Construction

Unlike many other rural branch lines in New Zealand, this line was not built for the sole purpose of opening up land for agriculture, as there were significant deposits of

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 ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

in the hills behind the town of Mount Somers. Construction commenced in May 1878, with the line leaving 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 ...

at Tinwald, the southernmost suburb of Ashburton. With the onset of the

Long Depression The Long Depression was a worldwide price and economic recession, beginning in Panic of 1873, 1873 and running either through March 1879, or 1899, depending on the metrics used. It was most severe in Europe and the United States, which had been e ...

looming, the construction work on the line provided valuable employment, and as it was built, it was progressively opened. The first 13.39 km to Westerfield were opened on 15 April 1880, followed by

Anama Anama may refer to: Places * Anama, New Zealand, a sparsely populated locality in the Canterbury region of the South Island * Anama, South Australia, a locality and historic pastoral run in the Mid North region * Anamã, a municipality in the Brazi ...

, 30.9 km from the junction, on 3 October 1882, and then Cavendish on 1 March 1884, 35.02 km from Tinwald. Although it had been decided to terminate the line on the south bank of the South Ashburton River, another 2.58 km was built to Mount Somers, opening on 4 October 1885. An extension of 5.57 km to Springburn was opened on 9 September 1889, bringing the line to its full length to 43.17 km. In 1886, a privately owned narrow-gauge

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 ...

was built into the hills behind Mount Somers to serve coal mines and a limeworks. This line operated until 1963, though after 1943 it was closed beyond the limeworks.John Yonge (editor), ''New Zealand Railway and Tramway Atlas'', fourth edition (Essex: Quail Map Company, 1993), 24.

Stations

The following stations were on the Mount Somers Branch (in brackets is the distance from the junction at Tinwald): * Lagmhor (8.13 km) *

Westerfield Westerfield is a village in Suffolk, England. It lies about two miles north of the centre of Ipswich in the East Suffolk District, and is served by Westerfield railway station on the Ipswich–Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Amenities Westerfiel ...

(13.39 km) * Hackthorne (17.92 km) * Punawai (21.69 km) *

Valetta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

(26.56 km) *

(30.9 km) *

Cavendish Cavendish may refer to: People * The House of Cavendish, a British aristocratic family * Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673), British poet, philosopher, and scientist * Cavendish (author) (1831–1899), pen name of Henry Jones, English auth ...

(35.02 km) *

(37.6 km) * Buccleugh (?? km) *

Springburn Springburn () is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households. Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its industrial expansion began ...

(43.17 km)

Operation

For roughly half a century a daily

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 ...

operated on the line. Besides coal and limestone, important commodities on the line were grain, livestock, and

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

that was railed to a glassworks in the

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

suburb of Hornby, served by the Southbridge Branch. At one point in the 19th century, as tractors displaced horses on farms in the area, substantial traffic came from the transport of horses to the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

, where the terrain was too steep for tractors of the era to handle. As road transportation improved in the 20th century, the line's importance slipped. Passenger traffic, in particular, had markedly declined from a peak of 18,000-25,000 passengers per annum in the late 19th century, and as it was no longer viable the passenger service was withdrawn on 9 January 1933.

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

generated increased traffic for the line, especially as there was a military camp located in Westerfield, but after the war ended conditions returned to their pre-war status. In 1951, the freight trains were reduced to twice a week and they now commenced in Ashburton rather than at the branch's terminus. Closure of the short section to Springburn had been suggested as early as 1930 and this finally occurred on 29 March 1957, with full closure of the line on 1 January 1968. Wheat was railed from

until April 1968. The first 2.5 kilometres of the line from the junction at Tinwald to the Frasers Road crossing survive as

The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum The Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum is a heritage railway and recreated historic village in the Tinwald Domain, Tinwald, New Zealand, Tinwald, New Zealand. The railway (operating as The Plains Railway) runs on approximately three kilo ...

The branch today

Some of the

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 ...

, including embankments and cuttings, survive, while in other places it has been obliterated, often by farming activity.

Goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before, after, and during loading to and unloading from a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, althou ...

s survive at Mount Somers, along with a couple of loading banks, and at Valetta, where some

ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...

is still in place on the formation of a siding. The site of the Westerfield yard retains a couple of loading banks, there are bridge abutments at various points, and about a kilometre from Westerfield School a couple of sleepers can be found.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * Hermann, Bruce J; ''South Island Branch Lines'' p 14 (1997, New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society, Wellington) * {{NZR Lines Railway lines in New Zealand Rail transport in the Canterbury Region Railway lines opened in 1885 Railway lines closed in 1968 Closed railway lines in New Zealand