The railway is operated by an incorporated society which consists solely of members and volunteers, and are largely resident in the city of Christchurch, 60 km to the south.

This area is noted for its scenery and the railway passes through many large cuttings, around tight curves and on steep gradients (max 1 in 47).

When originally built the line was expected to be part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway north of the city of Christchurch.

Further sections of the line through Hawarden, Medbury, Balmoral, Pahau, Culverden, Achray, Rotherham and Waiau were constructed in subsequent years.

For many years, the railways were protected from this competition by mileage limits; as these were gradually increased, more and more branches were closed down.

The branch line had a short reprieve in its twilight years when large amounts of logs were carried from the Balmoral forest.

[1] A public meeting at Waipara in August 1982 saw a steering committee established to investigate the Weka Pass Railway proposal.

There had been interest from a number of people in preserving part of this old branch line particularly in the scenic Weka Pass.

[1] The new group began negotiating with NZ Railways and other parties to purchase track, locomotives, rolling stock and other facilities.

16246 of 1924 from the Canterbury Steam Preservation Society, along with rakes of LA and LC "high-side" wagons, full of passengers.

The WPR purchased the leased section of the line on 3 September 1984, and the final payment was made on 28 August 1990.

[1] The railway was later granted permission to operate trains on under their own name on the line, a public running recommenced on 17 March 1985.

[1] Not long after trains commenced running to Waikari, the railway suffered a major setback in 1986 when heavy rain damaged the line in a number of places.

The line later reached Timpendean, but due to the lack of a suitable picnic area, trains were only allowed to run to Herberts Crossing.

[7] This now enables the locomotives to be turned to face the correct way, instead of running tender-leading on the return journey to Glenmark from Waikari.

[8] The ex-Mina Railway Station was built in 1910, and served many passenger trains along the Main North Line, and had been extensively refurbished.

[1] A private resident and his family, who was living in Cheviot at the time, raised funds and made generous donations to preserve and transport the station to Waipara.