Donnellys Crossing Section - Construction

Construction

The Kaihu Valley & Railway Company (KV&RC) formed in 1882 under the provisions of the Railways And Land Act of 1881 to build a railway linking lumber mills in the Kaihu Valley with the port in Dargaville. The Railways And Land Act authorised settlers to build railways instead of waiting for the government to do it, and the KV&RC hoped that diverse traffic would develop and use the line. However, it was not until February 1889 that the line reached Opanake, and with the Long Depression taking its toll, the KV&RC went bankrupt and the government foreclosed.

With the economy improving, a short extension was opened to Kaihu on 21 October 1896, but it was not until 1908 that further work was undertaken. Construction was extremely slow and the few kilometres to Whatoro were not opened until 1 June 1914. World War I brought construction to an absolute halt, and when work began after the war, the final extension of the line was built and opened to Donnellys Crossing on 1 April 1923.

In 1940, this isolated section of track was finally linked to the national network when the Dargaville Branch off the North Auckland Line reached Dargaville. However, the relocation and reconstruction of Dargaville's railway station was seen as required and this work took until 1943.