Heading for Donnelly's Crossing

摘要

The line between Dargaville and Donnelly's Crossing was a railway that no one wanted. It was started by private enterprise, sold to Government by default, and continued to be a liability. Fred Roberts traces the history of the railway in the Kaihu Valley. In 1870 there were about 2,000 settlers living alongside the Northern Wairoa River in Northland. They were mostly employed in the kauri timber and shipbuilding industries. In that year J M Dargaville, a timber merchant and gum dealer, arrived and quickly ascertained that the centre of commerce would be where the Northern Wairoa and Kaihu rivers met. In 1871 he purchased 171 acres of land from the local Maori Chief and started to establish a private town which became known as Daraaville.