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Pretty much in the middle of no-where, Hyde is a favourite caffeine oasis for Rail Trailers. While no refreshments are available 20 to 30 km either side of Hyde, elsewhere on the trail distances between flat whites or ice cold beers are much closer. It’s not for nothing the Rail Trail has earned the nickname ‘ale trail’.

Once called ‘Eight Mile’ because of its distance from the Hamiltons gold workings, Hyde was very much a settlement of the Otago’s gold rush era. When in 1894 the Otago Central Railway reached the station site 2km out of town on the only area of flat land considered big enough for railway operations, Hyde had a number of hotels, blacksmith, butcher, baker, saddlers, stonemason, a courthouse, school and several churches.  Most of these and numerous houses have now gone but Hyde, named after a former Mayor of Dunedin and to this day part of Dunedin City, is far from a ghost town.

Hyde is headquarters for a large transport firm that has gone from strength to strength following the closure of the railway, is the centre for the local farming community, has a busy schist rock quarry and is the source of clay much sought after for craft and commercial pottery. With the opening of the Rail Trail, the last of Hyde’s original hotels was literally brought back from the brink of being condemned.

Hyde is an ideal step off point for a visit to historic Macraes Flat and the enormous Macraes gold mine, a 24/7 operation that averages 170,000 ounces of gold annually.

Hyde – Rock and Pillar

• 14km separates Hyde from Rock & Pillar Station site.
• Hyde Station site is 2km south of the township. This was the only area of flat land suitably large enough to build a station building, engine shed, sidings and turntable.
• Some 4km south of Hyde township is where until the Tangiwai disaster in 1953, New Zealand’s worst train disaster happened. On June 4, 1943, the Cromwell to Dunedin Express failed to take a bend. Of the 113 passengers on board, 21 lost their lives. A poignant commemorative display is open to the public in the Ranfurly Station building.
• From Hyde the Rail Trail passes along the foothills of the Rock and Pillar Range and through the lush farmland of the Strath Taieri Valley

• Between Hyde and the Rock & Pillar Station site are four gangers’ sheds, each housing information panels produced by the Otago Central Rail Trail Trust. These sheds … Scrub Burn Gangers’ Shed --- Rock and Pillar Access Gangers’ Shed --- Strath Taieri Gangers’ Shed and Rock & Pillar Station Gangers’ Shed --- are identified with an ‘i’ on the map in the Official Rail Trail Passport. The reason for the relative closeness of the sheds is to provide shelter from the elements that in the Strath Taieri can be extreme, particularly winds.

Hyde - Tiroiti

• 6km separates Hyde from Tiroiti
• 152m long Prices Creek tunnel, 32 m high Prices Creek Railway Viaduct and historic Cap Burn railway bridge.

Hyde township, 2007. The rail bridge is one of only two curved bridges on the Otago Central Rail Trail. Photo: Chris Lidgard	Hyde township, 1953. In the background is the Otago Central Hotel before it fell into disrepair. Photo: NZ Railways Publicity
The tragic derailment of the Cromwell – Dunedin Express in 1943 south of Hyde claimed 21 lives Photo: Otago Daily Times

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