Railways of New Zealand: Moeraki & Shag Point Branches

Railways of New Zealand
The railway pages of Patrick Dunford

Moeraki & Shag Point Branches

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The Moeraki and Shag Point branches were a pair of very early short branches off the South Island Main Trunk in North Otago. The former left the MSL at Hillgrove and followed the peninsula coastline for 2.5 km to what was then intended to be the port for North Otago. But the line was difficult to maintain because of unstable land, and the port withered once Oamaru became developed. After a short life of only two years the line it was closed in 1879. The route is still very clear, maintained in part as a public walkway, and the remains of the wharf can be seen in the Moeraki township.

The Shag Point branch, of similar length at 3 km, had a more prosperous life, serving a coal mine. It joined the MSL at Shag Point (only 12 km south of Hillgrove). It was operated by NZR from its opening in 1879 until 1908. Thereafter it became a private railway and continued in use until the mine closed in 1934. The route is easy to follow as far as a wharf area.

I visited these lines in January 1999. The film I took at the time was not developed until 2006, and the negatives were directly scanned in August 2007 using an Epson Perfection V100 Photo scanner.


Moeraki - Hillgrove 2/09/2007	Moeraki - Oxidation Ponds 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007

Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007

Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007

Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch 2/09/2007	Moeraki Branch, lower road is route 14/08/2007

Moeraki Branch, lower road is route 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch, piles of a viaduct 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch, stone culvert under the formation 14/08/2007	Moeraki Branch, wharf remains 14/08/2007	Shag Point Branch 14/08/2007	Shag Point Branch 14/08/2007

Shag Point Branch, approaching wharf 14/08/2007	Shag Point Branch, wharf area 14/08/2007	Unknown 14/08/2007

• Home > Branches > Moeraki/Shag Point

Last updated 2 September 2007.

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