- Inch Valley
Location map
New Zealand
label=Inch Valley
lat_dir=S | lat_deg=45 | lat_min=24
lon_dir=E | lon_deg=170 | lon_min=38
position=right
width= 150
float=right
caption=Inch Valley is a lightly populated rural locality in the
Otago region ofNew Zealand 'sSouth Island . [Land Information New Zealand, [http://www.linz.govt.nz/apps/placenames/index.html?p=12664 Geographic Placenames Database - Place Name Detail: Inch Valley] , accessed12 October 2007 .] It is northwest of Palmerston and Glenpark, east ofStoneburn , on the banks of theShag River . Economic activity around Inch Valley is agricultural.Transport
Inch Valley is between Glenpark and
Dunback on State Highway 85.For 104 years, a
branch line railway passed through Inch Valley; for 68 of these years, it was a railway junction. The Dunback Branch from theMain South Line through Inch Valley to Dunback opened on29 August 1885 , to open up the country and serve farming interests. On31 March 1900 the short Makareo Branch from Inch Valley northeast to a limeworks inMakareao opened. Passengers in Inch Valley were served solely bymixed train s that ran between Palmerston and Dunback. Due to declining patronage these were cancelled on10 August 1930 and replaced by goods-only trains. [David Leitch and Brian Scott, "Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways", revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995] ), 88.] Inch Valley's railway station had a small shelter shed for passengers, a loading bank for freight and a loop for 15 wagons; 100 metres away was a ballast siding. [Patrick Dunford, [http://www.trainweb.org/enzedrail/branch/makareao/ "Dunback & Makareao Branches"] , accessed12 October 2007 .]On
1 January 1968 the Dunback Branch was closed due to substantial financial losses. Local freight was no longer carried; trains ran through Inch Valley without stopping thrice weekly to serve the Makareao limeworks. On1 June 1989 this line closed. The railway formation is visible around Inch Valley; at the old station site, a set of points and the loading bank are still in place. A 15-span trestle bridge that took the Makareao Branch over the Shag River was destroyed in the mid-1990s as a military training exercise. [Leitch and Scott, "Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways", 89.]References
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