Operation
Initially, the Donnellys Crossing Section resembled a bush tramway built to railway standards, though after the government's Railways Department acquired the line from the KV&RC, it became more of a general purpose railway. Logging traffic was so heavy in the early part of the 20th century that the line was briefly considered to be one of the most profitable in New Zealand. Two "mixed" trains of both passengers and freight ran each way each day, typically carrying significant quantities of timber from the kauri forest in the area. Only so much forest existed, though, and in the 1920s, both the logging industry and the railway began their decline. In 1934, only a quarter of traffic came from the logging industry, and any hopes that a connection to the national network would improve the line's fortunes were soon dashed. Trains were cut to run just once a day in each direction in 1942, and then thrice weekly in 1951. By this point, only 171 tons of timber originated on the line and larger quantities were being railed into the area.
Remarkably, passenger services survived right until the end. Many New Zealand branch lines lost their passenger services during the 1930s, with private cars seen as far preferable over the slow pace of country mixed trains that stopped to shunt at many sidings along the way, but in the isolated Far North, people were still happy to use the train. Initially, four six-wheeled passenger wagons were based in the area, but in 1933, two-bogied carriages were introduced. As late as 1958-59, approximately 15 people were carried per train, but the overall quantity of traffic was extremely poor and there was no reason to keep the line open any longer. Closure came on 19 July 1959, though the Dargaville shunter ran wagons of freight to and from Kaihu for a few more months.
The Donnellys Crossing Section was exclusively the domain of tank locomotives. During the line's period of isolation, F class engines were the dominant motive power, and with the opening of the Dargaville Branch the line was upgraded to permit the use of WW class locomotives. The line closed too early for diesel motive power to be introduced.
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