The Glenhope railway station

At the Glenhope end of the Glenhope-Kawatiri section of the old Nelson railway line is the old Glenhope railway station. The railway line reached Glenhope in 1912, and it served as the line’s terminus until the Kawatiri station opened in 1926. After Kawatiri Station was closed in 1931, Glenhope was the terminus once again, until the line closed altogether in 1955. Today the old station serves as a barn, with a lean-to hay shelter built onto the side of the original building. There are no railway lines remaining, they were taken up soon after the line was closed. The Glenhope station is visible from State Highway 6; if you’re going north, it’s on the left-hand side, just before the turnoff to Moonlight Road. It’s not publicly accessible, however, as it’s on private land. But from the road, you do get a glimpse of the past, when a railway line ran through the beech forests of the Tasman District, all the way up to Nelson.