Summerlea is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast

West Coast, New Zealand

The West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

's South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

.

Summerlea is on the Tasman Sea

Tasman Sea

The Tasman Sea is the large body of water between Australia and New Zealand, approximately across. It extends 2,800 km from north to south. It is a south-western segment of the South Pacific Ocean. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, the first recorded European...

 coastline with the Glasgow Range

Glasgow Range

The Glasgow Range is a mountain range on the northern West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is north of the Papahaua Range and its most significant river is the Mokihinui River.- History of settlement :...

 to the east. To the north of the town is the neighbouring settlement of Mokihinui

Mokihinui

Mokihinui is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.Mokihinui is on the Tasman Sea coastline north of Westport and is on the southern side of the Mokihinui River's mouth...

 and the rivermouth of the Mokihinui River

Mokihinui River

The Mokihinui River is a river located on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, about 40 kilometres north of Westport.- Geography :The Mokihinui River's headwaters are located in the Glasgow Range and its mouth is on the Tasman Sea...

. State Highway 67

New Zealand State Highway network

The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

 passes through the locality. It is included in the Mokihinui statistical area by Statistics New Zealand, and at the 2006 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings

The New Zealand government department Statistics New Zealand conducts a census of population and dwellings every five years. The census scheduled for 2011 was cancelled due to circumstances surrounding the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, however, and legislation introduced to hold the next...

, the whole area had a population of 174, a decrease of 7.4% or 12 people since the 1996 census.

In the early 1890s, a branch line

Branch line

A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...

 railway was opened from Westport

Westport, New Zealand

-Economy:Economic activity is based around fishing, coal mining and dairy farming. Historically, gold mining was a major industry, and coal mining was much more extensive than today . However, the region still is home to New Zealand's largest opencast mining operation in Stockton...

 through Summerlea, opening to Seddonville

Seddonville

Seddonville is a lightly populated locality on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is most famous for the historical role it played in New Zealand's coal mining industry.-Geography:...

 on 23 February 1895 and thus acquiring the name of the Seddonville Branch

Seddonville Branch

The Seddonville Branch, now truncated and operating as the Ngakawau Branch, is a branch line railway in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island. Construction of the line began in 1874 and it reached its final terminus at the Mokihinui Mine just beyond Seddonville in 1895...

. Passenger services were provided to Summerlea by mixed train

Mixed train

A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...

s until 14 October 1946, when the line became freight-only. Coal was almost the sole traffic on the line from this point, and when coal mining activity declined in the 1970s, the line's maintenance costs came to outweigh revenue. Accordingly, the line closed beyond Ngakawau on 3 May 1981, and much of the line's formation

Track bed

A track bed or trackbed is the term used to describe the groundwork onto which a railway track is laid. Trackbeds of disused railways are sometimes used for recreational paths or new light rail links....

can still be seen passing through the countryside around Summerlea.