Makerua Swamp

[4] Makerua was one of the areas the government gave to the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company to finance construction of the line.

Work to drain the swamp began in 1884, with felling of bush along the banks of the Tokomaru River.

[9] The Makerua Drainage Scheme now covers 14,600 ha (36,000 acres) and has 1,066 km (662 mi) of drains and 9 pumping stations.

However, even this lightweight engine proved too heavy for the flimsy tracks across the swamps and it was sold to work later on the Piha Tramway on the West Coast near Auckland and near Raetihi in the central North Island.

[13] Horse-drawn narrow gauge railways on temporary tracks for harvesting the hemp on the fields were used from 1910 onwards.