[1] Located roughly halfway between Timaru and Oamaru, Waimate is the major market and service town for the surrounding district, but when the Main South Line between Christchurch and Dunedin was constructed, it was built some 7 km to the east of the township so that it could follow a direct route along the coastal plain without deviating.

On 1 April 1885, in accordance with the terms of the 1878 District Railways Act under which the Waimate Gorge Branch had been built, the government agreed to take control of the line.

By 1924, the government had decided that extending rural branch lines was not profitable and thus permanently put an end to any plans to build beyond Waihao Downs.

Due to Waimate's status as the central town of the surrounding region, it attracted inbound freight from over 160 km away, and most outbound traffic went to Timaru or Oamaru and the wharves located in those two centres.

[4] Traffic surged during World War II, in part due to petrol restrictions, but it slipped again with the coming of peace in 1945.

New freight handling techniques and changes in coastal shipping patterns served to further lower the traffic on the branch, and with running costs mounting and deferred maintenance becoming more and more necessary, the government took the step of closing the Waihao Downs section on 11 December 1953 and then the entire line on 31 March 1966.

The remains of old railways typically perish with time due to both natural influences and human development, and the Waimate Branch is no exception.