[citation needed] The crossing of the Makakahi River by the Wellington – Woodville railway in December 1894 enabled the establishment of a station at Newman.

After the railway reached Eketāhuna in 1889, local timber merchant Tom Price established a sawmill at Newman, named Albion Mill.

Price's operations were responsible for 1,000,000 cubic metres (35,000,000 cu ft) of totora, rimu, and matai being shipped to his timber yard in Petone.

Permission was first sought in 1893 to construct the line, and was intended to resolve the problems caused by transporting timber using carts on the roads.

Price was fortunate in that an economic depression had caused work on the government Wellington – Woodville railway to stall at Eketāhuna, leading to the availability of a pool of skilled labour.

The 11-kilometre (6.8 mi) line started at the Albion Mill and passed by the township of Nireaha before terminating at a sawmill Price had established there on the eastern bank of the Mangatainoka River.