At Himatangi there was a junction with the Sanson Tramway, a line operated by the Manawatu County Council that was never upgraded to the status of a railway.

Due to poor financial conditions at the time, a tramway built with wooden rails rather than a railway was proposed in 1865 as a cost-effective mode of transport.

Not even this was affordable at the time, and it was not until Julius Vogel announced his "Great Public Works" policy in 1870 that construction was finally approved.

[2] The line was completed to Palmerston North on 25 July 1873, a distance of 40 kilometres, and soon proposals were made to extend it to Wanganui.

[2] The following stations were on the Foxton Branch, with the distance from the junction at Longburn in brackets: The line was very important for its first 12 years.

Northbound freight and passengers from Wellington came up the west coast via ship and transferred to the railway in Foxton, and the town was served by express trains.

When the WMR's line opened, traffic to Foxton dropped so markedly that services were slashed to run on alternate days, though daily trains were later restored.

However, freight services were in decline: with the acquisition of the WMR in 1908, the Railways Department ceased shipping coal via Foxton.

[5] The line ran for much of its length right beside State Highways 1 and 56,[12] but road re-alignment and flood control earthworks have destroyed much of the formation.