Hedgehope, New Zealand
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Hedgehope is a village in the central Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. Located in the Hokonui Hills, Winton is to the west, Mataura to the east, and Mabel Bush to the south. The nearest city is Invercargill, over 25 km to the southwest. State Highway 96 passes through Hedgehope as it travels between Springhills and Glencoe.
Hedgehope was also once the terminus of the Hedgehope Branch railway. On 17 July 1899, a branch line diverging from the Kingston Branch in Winton was opened to Hedgehope and it served the town for over half a century. Due to low demand, passengers always had to travel in carriages attached to slow freight services; these were known as mixed trains. The rise of private car ownership in the 1920s caused the quantity of passengers to slip to levels unsustainable for even mixed trains, and accordingly passenger provisions were cancelled from 9 February 1931. Freight quantities also steadily declined, and in the early 1950s, the decision was taken to close over half the branch. On 24 December 1953, the branch was truncated to Browns and Hedgehope's railway service fully ceased. Today, there is little evidence left of the railway's existence apart from some of its former formation.
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