Barakula is a rural
locality in the
Western Downs Region
Western Downs Region is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Queensland, Australia. The Western Downs Regional Council manages an area of , which is slightly smaller than Switzerland, although with a population of 34,467 ...
,
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia.
In the , Barakula had "no people or a very low population".
[
Barakula's postcode is 4413.][
]
History
In 1911 the Queensland Railway Department built a tramway from Chinchilla
Chinchilla refers to either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "her ...
to Wongongera (now Barakula) to transport railway sleepers made from logs taken from the state forest at Barakula and milled at the Barakula sawmill (approx ). The route of the Barakula tramway was based on an earlier plan to construct a railway line from Chinchilla to Taroom that was subsequently abandoned in favour of a railway line from Miles to Taroom. Originally established to supply sleepers for the Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...
, the sawmill and the tramway operated intermittently depending on demand. The sawmill was mothballed in August 1928 but a caretaker, F. Brooks, was retained. The line reopened in 1942. The tramway operated until 1970. It was a gauge tramway.
Wongongera Sawmill Provisional School opened on 25 July 1912. In 1914 it was renamed Barakula Provisional School. It closed and re-opened a number of times due to low student numbers. In 1927 it became Barakula State School. It closed on 31 December 1982.
Demographics
In the Barakula had a population of 13 people.
Heritage listings
Barakula has the following heritage-listed sites:
* Waaje Fire Tower No.4, Barakula State Forest
References
Further reading
* — includes Nudley and Barakula State Schools â€
via State Library of Queensland
{{Western Downs Region
Western Downs Region
Localities in Queensland