Roxburgh Branch
| Roxburgh Branch | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Type | Branch line |
| System | New Zealand railway network |
| Status | Closed |
| Locale | Otago, South Island |
| Termini |
Milton Roxburgh |
| Stations | 18 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 1877 (to Lawrence) 1914 (to Beaumont) 1925 (to Miller's Flat) 1928 (to Roxburgh) |
| Closed | 31 May 1968 |
| Owner | New Zealand Railways Department |
| Operator(s) | New Zealand Railways Department |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 95 kilometres (59 mi) |
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
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The Roxburgh Branch was a branch line railway built in the Otago region of New Zealand's South Island that formed part of the country's national rail network. Originally known as the Lawrence Branch, it was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand railway history, beginning in the 1870s and not finished until 1928. The full line was closed in 1968.
The original reason for the line's construction was to provide better transport access to Lawrence, then known as Tuapeka, the site of New Zealand's first significant discovery of gold. Contracts for construction were let by mid-1873, and work on the line was well under way by the next year, with a junction with the Main South Line established at Clarksville. Slips and contractor bankruptcies presented delays, but on 22 January 1877, the line opened to Waitahuna, followed by Lawrence on 2 April 1877, 35.27 km from Clarksville.
Calls were made to extend the Lawrence Branch further, with some proposals suggesting a route via Roxburgh could serve as the railway to Alexandra and Central Otago in general (instead, the Otago Central Railway followed a more circuitous route via the Taieri and Maniototo). Decades passed until approval was granted to extend the line beyond its Lawrence terminus, with the next section to Big Hill (location of a tunnel between the Bowlers Flat and Craigellachie stations) opened on 4 October 1910. Upon completion of the 434-metre-long (1,424 ft) Big Hill tunnel, the line was opened to Beaumont on 15 December 1914, but World War I delayed construction and the next section to Millers Flat was not opened until 16 December 1925. The line was finally completed when the section from Millers Flat to Roxburgh was opened on 18 April 1928. A modified form of the proposal to use Roxburgh as the route to Central Otago resurfaced, proposing that the branch be extended to meet the Central Otago Railway in Alexandra, but this did not come to fruition.
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Wikipedia