Donnellys Crossing Section - The Branch Today

The Branch Today

Relics of closed railway lines naturally diminish and disappear over time due to the effects of both nature and human development, but in the rural setting of the Far North of New Zealand, some signs of the Donnellys Crossing Section have survived. For much of the line's length, its formation can be seen travelling through the countryside, and a truss bridge over the Kaihu River is still in place. Unfortunately, Kaihu's station building was removed at some point in the latter half of the 1990s, followed by Donnellys Crossing's station building sometime in the first decade of the 2000s. Donnellys Crossing station was located near a bridge that once carried both road and rail and now remains for the sole use of the road; decking has been removed from the railway side but the framework remains.

Little remains of the locomotives and rolling stock of the KV&RC. The last member of the F class, F 216 (built by Neilson and Company in 1888), was built for the KV&RC and was subsequently bought by the Railways Department. It was in use until April 1932, when it was sold to the Auckland Farmers Freezing Co., Horotiu, who converted the engine to diesel propulsion. It was donated to the Goldfields Railway in 1981 and then to the Bush Tramway Club in 1985. It is located at their Pukemiro depot.