On 11 May 1904, before the line opened, Albert Gibbs applied for a siding at Utiku. A cable of the tramway suspension bridge, which led to their mill, broke in 1912, resulting in the mill being shut until a new bridge, mill and tramway opened in 1914, the plans having been drawn in 1913. Similar collapses occurred in 1904 and 1920, though no one was killed then. The 1914 bridge was replaced in 1961. Only the northern tower of the 1914 bridge remains. In 1922 the Gibbs Bros butter box factory was blown down. It finally burnt down in 1927.
