tourism and cottage industries are waikino's primary revenue sources today. numerous organised tours and walks around the old mining facilities and old rail tunnels, and around beautiful native bush which surround waterfalls and scenic valleys, are available. there is also a community sponsored heritage railway from the waikino station café to waihi, the goldfields railway. this line used to be part of the east coast main trunk railway and opened in november 1905, but in 1978, a deviation to the south opened and made it redundant. the goldfields railway successfully saved the 6 km of track between waihi and waikino and is now a popular tourist attraction, running trains daily with preserved steam locomotives and diesel locomotives providing motive power.