The West Coast coal-mining settlement of Seddonville, 50 km north of Westport, was named in honour of the legendary Liberal Premier Richard Seddon. It was also the site of an early experiment in state socialism – New Zealand’s first state-owned coal mine opened there in 1903.
Coal is discovered - Seddonville
Seddonville State Mine
Mining at Charming Creek - Seddonville
Hydraulic coal mining - Seddonville
Many of the mine workings abandoned by the Westport-Cardiff, Seddonville State and Mokihinui mines have been reopened at different times, often by small cooperative parties who have been able to make a living when there was a strong demand for coal. They were aided by the development of hydraulic mining techniques, which were pioneered in the Seddonville area.
Decline of mining - Seddonville
Train crossing Chasm Creek bridge, 1903
Photographer Henry Winkelmann captured this 'mixed train' (featuring both freight and passenger carriages) crossing Chasm Creek bridge in 1903. The locomotive is an F class (possibly F 166).
Auckland Museum
Reference: 2358
Photographer: Henry Winkelmann, 1903
Westport-Cardiff coal train
A fully laden coal train about to leave Seddonville for Westport. The holding bins used to load the coal can be seen in the background. This photograph was used by the Westport-Cardiff Coal Company in an advertising feature published in 1898. The locomotive is an Fa class (slightly modified, and temporarily called Fb), which was slightly larger than the C class.
Trains on the Seddonville line
One of the first Seddonville coal trains, probably photographed on a narrow section of the lower Mokihinui gorge. The locomotive is a C class, the smallest used on this line.
Going to school by train
Pupils from Seddonville attending high school in Westport travelled by train in 1945. John Pascoe, who took the photo, noted that they sometimes spent up to six hours a day travelling. The following year passenger traffic was stopped on the Seddonville line, and after that local pupils travelled to Buller High School by bus.
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