Lumsden, New Zealand

Lumsden is a town in Southland, New Zealand. Lying in a gap in the surrounding hills, it is the location of a major junction halfway along the north-south road from Queenstown to Invercargill, where it is crossed by the east-west road from Gore to Te Anau. The town had a population of 453 as of the 2001 census.

Lumsden also used to be a major railway junction with lines departing to all four points of the compass. The Kingston Branch from Invercargill ran north-south through the town, while to the west was the Mossburn Branch and to the east was the Waimea Plains Railway that connected with the Main South Line in Gore. In 1971, most of the Waimea Plains Railway closed, but sixteen kilometres from Lumsden to Balfour remained open until 1978. In 1979, the line north to Kingston was closed after repairs to flood damage would not have been economic, and both the Mossburn Branch and the connection south to Invercargill closed in December 1982. The railway station is now preserved as a tourist information centre, but otherwise, little remains of the town's former prominent status in New Zealand's national rail network.

It has both a primary and a secondary school (Northern Southland College)

Born in Lumsden

* Cathy Baker (October 16, 1957), New Zealand field hockey player

External links

* [http://www.northernsouthland.org.nz/Main/Lumsden/ Lumsden community website]