- Glentunnel
Location map
New Zealand
label=Glentunnel
lat_dir=S | lat_deg=43 | lat_min=29
lon_dir=E | lon_deg=171 | lon_min=56
position=right
width= 150
float=right
caption=Glentunnel is a small village in the
Selwyn District of the Canterbury region ofNew Zealand 'sSouth Island . It is officially recognised as a "populated area less than a town". [Land Information New Zealand, [http://www.linz.govt.nz/apps/placenames/index.html?p=20271 "Place Name Detail: Glentunnel"] , "New Zealand Geographic Placenames Database", accessed19 May 2008 .] The 2001New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings gave Glentunnel's population as 129. It is located on State Highway 77 and was served by theWhitecliffs Branch , abranch line railway , from the line's opening on3 November 1875 through to its closure on31 March 1962 . Few remnants of the railway remain in the town, with the station's platform incorporated into the backyard of a private residence. [David Leitch and Brian Scott, "Exploring New Zealand's Ghost Railways", revised edition (Wellington: Grantham House, 1998 [1995] ), 71-2.]Industrial activity such as
lignite coal mining and the manufacture ofpottery andbrick s used to take place in the region around Glentunnel. This was the reason the railway was built, but activity declined sharply in the 20th century and has been effectively non-existent since the 1980s. [Selwyn District Council, [http://www.selwyndistrict.co.nz/page.pasp?pageid=22 "Glentunnel and Coalgate"] , accessed19 May 2008 .]References
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