Wyndham Branch

The Main South Line from Dunedin to Invercargill was built on the west side of the Mataura River north of Edendale, thereby leaving the small east bank town of Wyndham off the route. To satisfy local residents, a 6.5 km long branch was built from Edendale to the town and it opened on 2 October 1882.[1] A further section had been let to a contractor, but with half of the works complete, they abandoned the project. Further processes of plan review and granting of contracts meant that the branch did not reach the town of Glenham until 1 May 1890.[2] There were proposals to continue the branch into the lower Mataura River area, but in August 1888, the Public Works Department stated that no further expenditure on the line was proposed once it was complete to Glenham, and the Tokanui Branch (which at the time terminated in Mokotua) was extended into the lower Mataura instead.[1] As Glenham was now established as the terminus, a locomotive depot was established in the town. Along the route from Wyndham to Glenham, a tunnel was required, and it became the second to southernmost railway tunnel in New Zealand and thereby one of the most southern railway tunnels in the world.[3]

The following stations were located on the Wyndham Branch (in brackets is the distance from the junction in Edendale):[4]

• Menzies Ferry (3.4 km)
• Wyndham Racecourse (5.2 km)
• Wyndham (6.5 km)
• Glenham (15.17)

The tunnel between Wyndham and Glenham was approximately 301 metres (988 ft) long.

Traffic on the Wyndham Branch was light from the beginning, and in its early years, it was described as being "in fine running trim".[3] It adequately served the needs of the local community and provided access to markets before the establishment of a modern road network, but as the 20th century progressed, it began to lose money. Ford Model T bus equipment was used as the basis for two railcars in 1925, and in May 1926, the RM class Model T Ford railcars began providing a service on the line as well as on the Waikaia Branch. They were economic, consuming 18.8 litres per 100 km and capable of running at 48 km/h, a reasonable speed for rural branch lines at the time. Despite that, they did not prove sufficiently successful: problems related to rough riding and overheating made them unpopular with the public and they were discarded in 1931.[5]

A 1930 commission of New Zealand's railway network recommended that passenger traffic be discontinued on the Wyndham Branch, as well as reducing staff and closing the locomotive depot. The administration of the railways went one step further than that, closing the entire section from Wyndham to Glenham on 14 July 1930. Soon afterwards, passenger services on the rest of the line were cancelled on 9 February 1931 and goods services were modified to run from Invercargill and return rather than from the branch's terminus and return.[3] The only passenger trains on the line after 1931 were infrequent chartered excursions, such as one from Waikaka at the end of the Waikaka Branch on 26 March 1962 that carried almost 800 passengers.[6] World War II provided a temporary boost in traffic and the line lost less money, but due to a lack of significant traffic, a 1952 commission recommended full closure. This did not occur for another ten years, however; the line essentially became an extended siding from Edendale's yard that was shunted by passing services on the main line. Closure was announced on 20 June 1962 and the last services ran a few months later on 9 September 1962.[3]

Remnants of old railways typically fade with time or wholly disappear, and this is true for the Wyndham Branch. Very little of the route from Edendale to Wyndham is evident, except some traces of the formation around Edendale. Traces of the formation to Glenham are clearer and include embankments and cuttings, and the tunnel is difficult to find but viewable. At some point in the 1990s, the Department of Conservation cleared access to the tunnel as part of a summer works programme, but their work has been somewhat undone by nature. In the tiny village of Glenham, the flat area of the yard remains, though it lacks any distinguishing features or railway remnants of note.[3]