[4] A fixed signal was placed at the station and a distant at the bridge in 1917[5] and the ballast pit siding was interlocked by tablet in 1918.

[6] A racecourse opened to the south of the bridge in 1916[7] and some trains served the course on race days,[8] though no platform appears on aerial photos[9] and only the ballast pit was mapped.

It was built from March 1903 to January 1904 by Scott Bros. Ltd. Peter Seton Hay, Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department, was probably the designer.

The 1903 central cast iron cylinder piers, cutwaters, timber cross-bracings and boxing remain, though most other parts have been replaced.

[11] Puketapu was recognised as a potential source of totara as early as 1903[12] and the company was advertising for bush cutting[13] and construction of a 1.5 mi (2.4 km) tramway in 1905.