The mainline was constructed using second-hand rails becoming available from track upgrades on Cape gauge railways.

[1] The 17.5-mile (28.2 km) Madonela Branch was built for a maximum axle load of 5 long tons (5.6 short tons; 5.1 t) and a speed of 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) at a cost of about £50 000 and the first trains ran on 2 February 1914.

At Highflats daily trains crossed at one o'clock in the afternoon, exchanged the crew and the locomotives were serviced.

After closure, the majority of the tracks were lifted to be used on the Welsh Highland Railway.

In the movie Cry, the Beloved Country based on the novel of the same name by Alan Paton the Reverend Stephen Kumalo travels on the narrow gauge train between Carisbrooke and Donnybrook en route to Johannesburg.