Wedderburn, New Zealand

Wedderburn is a community in Central Otago, New Zealand. It is located 15 kilometres northwest of Ranfurly, and was at one time close to the centre of a thriving gold and coal mining area.

Wedderburn is on State Highway 85 close to the Otago Central Rail Trail. Originally a coaching stop, Wedderburn became a terminus on the Central Otago Railway and was the headquarters for the Public Works Department during construction of this section of the line. This branch of the Central Otago Railway was completed in 1921, and included the still working section along the Taieri Gorge. The section through Wedderburn was eventually abaondoned because the construction of the Clyde Dam which was destined to inundate part of the line.

Following the closure of the railway, the Otago Excursion Train Trust and Dunedin City Council bought the track up to Middlemarch to form the Taieri Gorge Railway Ltd. The remaining track was removed and this section became the 150 kilometres long Otago Central Rail Trail from Middlemarch to Clyde for recreational use by cyclists and walkers. This trail passes through Wedderburn and past the Wedderburn railway shed.

Artist Grahame Sydney made the Wedderburn railway goods shed famous in his 1975 painting of the shed in an austere Otago landscape representing the economic and social changes brought about by railways. The shed was subsequently removed to a site five kilometres away but later returned following public protest. The shed is now being conserved and has been restored to its recognisable green colour.