Hughenden-Winton railway line
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| Hughenden-Winton railway line | |
|---|---|
Railway line | |
| History | |
| Opened | 1895 |
| Closed | 2008 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 212 km (132 mi) |
The Hughenden-Winton railway line was a railway line in
It was originally part of the Great Northern Railway (Mt Isa line), but was later downgraded to branch line status when the extension west of Hughenden opened.
History
Queensland is the second largest of the Australian States and Territories by area. Its vast interior was largely opened up by the construction of three east-west railway lines that connected the interior of the State to the eastern coastal towns of
It was later decided that each of the routes should each be extended to the south-west. In the case of the Western Line an extension to
Competing interests
A proposal to extend the
Connection to Rockhampton
In 1928 and some thirty years after the Hughenden to Winton project, the Central West line was extended from Longreach to Winton thereby connecting two of the original trunk lines.
Construction
The Winton Branch was 212 kilometres in length and constructed in three stages of 62, 67 and 83 kilometres. The first stage to Stamford via
The branch not only allowed passengers to travel between Winton and Townsville in a day (albeit a 17-hour journey) but it also facilitated a rapid expansion of the wool industry in the Winton area. A mail train ran three times a week and a goods train ran to Hughenden. Services were later reduced to one per week.
Decline
As was the case with many of Queensland’s railways, freight traffic steadily declined to the point that the Winton Branch became uneconomical to maintain. Last patronised in the mid 1990s, the branch closed in 2008. In 2012 it was reported that some 8,500 tonnes of track, 320,000 sleepers and 1.3 million dog spikes were removed and resold or recycled.
The Hughenden to Winton Road that largely runs parallel to the old track has been sealed so as to provide an alternative route to the North Queensland coast when the Capricorn and Flinders Highways leading to Rockhampton and Townsville are cut by floodwaters.
See also
- Travelling post office, Queensland
References
External links
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