Construction is anticipated to be undertaken by a mix of contractors and skilled volunteers. This mix has already been successfully used at the Maymorn site, where the track formation was prepared by a contractor, and volunteers have built the track and turnouts. A similar mix has been used with success on other heritage and tourist railways in New Zealand, and significantly, on the rebuilding of the Welsh Highland Railway in Wales. Other charitable organisations in New Zealand also benefit from the work of skilled volunteers.
Timelines will dictate the extent of volunteer labour that can effectively contribute to the construction of the railway, but given appropriate lead-times, resourcing and leadership volunteers will be able to make a significant contribution.
As the railway proposal proceeds it is anticipated that a Request for Proposal process will be called for various significant parts of the project, many of which have already been outlined in this document. Where projects are well-defined, such as the building of the Maymorn station building (which has resource consent, and a complete set of plans ready for building consent) a tender process would most likely be carried out.