
The Central Western railway line is a railway line in
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
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It was opened in a series of sections between 1867 and 1928. It commences at
Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite.
The Scottish- ...
and extends west to
Winton.
History
Following the
separation of Queensland
The Separation of Queensland was an event in 1859 in which the land that forms the present-day state of Queensland in Australia was excised from the Colony of New South Wales and proclaimed as a separate crown colony.
History
European settlemen ...
from the
colony of New South Wales
The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...
in 1859, Queensland consisted of a vast area with a population of approximately 30,000 people, most of who lived in the southeast corner of the colony. The new
Queensland Government
The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
was keen to facilitate development and immigration, and had approved the construction of the
Main Line from
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
, about to the fertile
Darling Downs
The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...
region in 1864. This was the first narrow gauge () main line in the world.
Following the establishment of the settlement of
Rockhampton
Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite.
The Scottish- ...
in 1858, and the discovery of gold at nearby
Canoona
Canoona is a rural locality in the Livingstone Shire, Queensland, Australia. It was the site of the first North Australian gold rush. In the , Canoona had a population of 90 people.
Geography
The Fitzroy River forms the southern boundary of ...
in 1859, there were calls for improved land transportation in the region. Despite the goldrush being short-lived, it established Rockhampton as the main port for
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...
, and the
Queensland Parliament
The Parliament of Queensland is the unicameral legislative body of the Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Queensland, and the ...
approved the Central West line once the Main Line had proven the viability of the controversial narrow gauge.
The first section opened to
Westwood, the place where the roads to
Taroom
Taroom is a town in the Shire of Banana and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality split between the Shire of Banana and the Western Downs Region in Queensland, Australia. In the , Taroom had a population of 885 people.
Geography
The t ...
,
Springsure
Springsure is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Springsure had a population of 950 people.
Geography
Springsure is situated by road ...
,
Peak Downs
Peak Downs is a geographic area, and formerly a station, in the vicinity of Clermont, Central Queensland. In the 1860s and 1870s the area was known as "the Peak Downs".
The morphology of this region consisted of numerous distinct peaks of bas ...
and the central west diverged, from Rockhampton, in September 1867. Freight being carried by
bullock teams
A bullock cart or ox cart (sometimes called a bullock carriage when carrying people in particular) is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in many parts of the world. Th ...
from further west found no advantage to transferring to rail for such a short distance, and so the government was forced to extend the line in sections from 1874, reaching
Blackwater in 1877
and the
Nogoa River
The Nogoa River is a river in Central Queensland, Australia.
Course and features
The river rises on the Carnarvon Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, in the Carnarvon National Park and flows in a generally north easterly direction towards ...
in 1879, leading to the establishment of the town of
Emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
.
Construction then proceeded west virtually tracking the
Tropic of Capricorn
The Tropic of Capricorn (or the Southern Tropic) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December (or southern) solstice. It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. It also reach ...
, with settlements developing once the line was built. The line reached
Alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...
on 22 September 1884,
Beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; or ) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Ancient Greek, beta represented the voiced bilabial plosive . In Modern Greek, it represe ...
on 12 January 1885,
Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
on 8 June 1885, and
Barcaldine on 8 November 1886, after crossing the Drummond Range using 1 in 33 (3.3%)
grades
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grading in education, a measurement of a student's performance by educational assessment (e.g. A, pass, etc.)
* A designation for students, classes and curricula indicating the number of the year a student has reach ...
and
radius curves (the tightest used on the system) to avoid major earthworks, and reached
Longreach
Longreach is a rural town and locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and I ...
in 1892.
The town of
Winton became the terminal of the
Great Northern line from
Townsville
The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
in 1899, and became a major livestock loading point for the central western region. Linking Winton to the Central West line was seen as providing additional markets for the livestock, and the extension opened in September 1928.
Export coal traffic
Coal had been noted by the earliest explorers to the
Central Queensland
Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...
region, but domestic demand was met by relatively small local mines. In the 1950s major exploration programs identified large reserves of high quality coal, and a series of mines and associated railways have been developed since that time. The first line, to the Callide mine, was connecting to the
Callide Valley branch opened in 1953, with coal railed to
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
via
Mount Morgan (the Abt rack section being bypassed in 1952) and Rockhampton. Further mines opened, increasing tonnage to the point where a new direct line to Gladstone was built, known as the
Moura Short line, opened in 1968.
Other mines were developed in the Blackwater-Emerald region, with a series of lines built to enable the coal to be railed to Gladstone via the Central Line to Rockhampton then south to Gladstone via the North Coast Line. Gradually as the volume of coal increased the lines were gradually upgraded as well as the rollingstock. The individual branch lines in this system are detailed in the Branch Lines section below. Coal is also railed to the
Stanwell Power Station.
Coal tonnage railed to Gladstone steadily increased, requiring innovations such as multiple locomotives (up to 6 diesel-electrics and then 5 electric) distributed front and mid-train and controlled by radio (Locotrol) from the front locomotive, introduced in 1976. The length of the longest trains on the system is 1.7 km.
System upgrades
As a result of the growing traffic volumes,
CTC signalling was introduced between Rockhampton and Blackwater in 1979–80. In November 1980 a new line from Gracemere to Rocklands (junction with the
North Coast line) opened, enabling coal trains to bypass Rockhampton. The only tunnel on the system was
'daylighted' as part of an upgrade in 1983.
The system was electrified at 25 kV, 50 Hz in 1987, including the line as far as Emerald. For details of this project see
Rail electrification in Queensland
In the late 1970s and 1980s, a significant rail electrification program was completed in the Australian state of Queensland. The electrified Rail transport in Queensland, Queensland network is the largest in Australia with over 2,000 kilometres e ...
.
Duplication of the line has occurred in sections, listed from east to west below:
*
Rocklands
Rocklands is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk which encompasses the villages of Rockland All Saints and Rockland St Peter.
It covers an area of and had a population of 702 in 282 households at the 2001 census, increasing to ...
–
Stanwell
Stanwell is a village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne district, in Surrey, England. It is west of central London. A small corner of its land is used as industrial land for nearby Heathrow Airport. The rest of the village is made up o ...
(18 km) opened 2014
*
Westwood –
Windah (10.3 km)
* Tunnel –
Aroona (19.8 km)
*
Duaringa
Duaringa is a rural town in the Central Highlands Region and a locality split between the Central Highlands Region and the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda in Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Duaringa had a population of 26 ...
–
Wallaroo
Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...
(11.1 km)
*
Dingo
The dingo (either included in the species ''Canis familiaris'', or considered one of the following independent taxa: ''Canis familiaris dingo'', ''Canis dingo'', or ''Canis lupus dingo'') is an ancient (basal (phylogenetics), basal) lineage ...
–
Bluff
Bluff or The Bluff may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town
* The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich
* The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality
* Bluff River (New ...
(24 km) opened 2015
*Bluff –
Rangal (29 km) opened ~2011
Approximately 60% of the 199 km Rocklands – Rangal section is duplicated.
Branch lines
A series of traditional branch lines were built to connect to the Central West line, and these are listed from east to west below. The more recent lines to serve coal mines are listed separately below.
Kabra
Kabra is a rural town and locality in the Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Kabra had a population of 430 people.
Boongary is a neighbourhood in the south-east of the locality ().
Geography
The town is in th ...
–
Theodore Theodore may refer to:
Places
* Theodore, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
* Theodore, Queensland, Australia
* Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada
* Theodore, Alabama, United States
* Theodore Reservoir, in Saskatchewan
People
* Theodore (gi ...
and
Lawgi (
Dawson Valley line and
Callide Valley line), opened in sections between 1898 and 1932, it included a section of
rack railway
A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...
to
Mt Morgan, which was replaced by a deviation in 1952. The last sections of this system closed on 26 June 2013.
Nogoa –
Springsure
Springsure is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Springsure had a population of 950 people.
Geography
Springsure is situated by road ...
, . This line opened on 15 August 1887 to provide access to a fertile valley.
Although built to pioneer standards such as 10 tonne axle load, it has remained in service, with the first 43 km to Wurba Junction being upgraded in conjunction with the opening of a coal loading balloon loop serving the Minerva mine in 2006. The section beyond Wurba Junction was closed on 26 June 2013.
Emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...
–
Blair Athol, . This line was opened via
Capella
Capella is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It has the Bayer designation α Aurigae, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Aurigae and abbreviated Alpha Aur or α Aur. Capella is the lis ...
to
Clermont (100 km) in 1884 to serve the developing Peak Downs copper mine. It was extended north to the Blair Athol coal mine in 1910, and a short extension was opened in 1912 to Birimgan to access a source of timber for sleepers in conjunction with 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, ...
proposal. The line was upgraded to 15 tonne axle load in 1979. A connection to the separate but proximate Blair Athol-Mackay line was opened in 1986, providing the Emerald district with rail access to the Mackay port, and closed on 26 June 2013.
Blair Athol had the first
Rail ambulance
A rail ambulance is a vehicle used for medical transportation services on Track (rail transport), railway lines. The first rail ambulance in Queensland, Australia, was introduced in 1918, with the last withdrawn from service around 1990.
Th ...
in Queensland. Blair Athol coal, considered the best steaming coal in Queensland, was railed to
Mount Isa
Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...
via Winton and Hughenden in the 1960s, a distance of 1,510 km.
Jericho
Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017.
F ...
–
Yaraka
Yaraka is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Longreach Region of Queensland, Australia. Until 2021, the town of Yaraka was part of the locality of Isisford, Queensland, Isisford.
Geography
Yaraka is in Centra ...
, . Opened to
Blackall
Blackall is a rural town and locality in the Blackall-Tambo Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is the service centre for the Blackall-Tambo Region. The dominant industry in the area is grazing with over 70 homesteads in the locality (as ...
in 1908, the line was extended as part of 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, ...
proposal between 1913 – 1917, with Yaraka becoming the terminus when construction halted due to difficulties in obtaining materials and labour due to the First World War. Intended to reach
Windorah
Windorah is a town and a locality in the Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. It is one of only three towns in the Shire of Barcoo in Central West Queensland. In the , the locality of Windorah had a population of 104 people.
Geography
Loca ...
, construction never resumed. The line closed in 2005 with the rails being lifted that same year. Blackall had one of the last
Rail ambulances in Queensland, withdrawn in 1990.
Aramac Tramway, .
Aramac
Aramac is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Aramac had a population of 372 people.
Geography
Aramac is located north of Barcaldine, Queensl ...
was one of the few existing settlements in the region when the Central West line was being constructed, but that line maintained its due west path and was built well south of the town. After unsuccessfully lobbying for the State to build a line, the
Aramac Shire Council funded what was technically a tramway (but built to QR standards), providing the line to
Barcaldine which opened in July 1913. The line was invaluable during wet weather, as the heavy clay 'black soil' became impassable for days after rain. Once an all-weather road was provided, the line was seen as a burden on rate payers and closed in 1975.
Winton –
Springvale - Construction started on a line heading south west from Winton as part of 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, ...
proposal in 1912, and about was built before work halted in 1917. Although construction resumed in 1920, it was again abandoned without ever being opened for traffic, and was dismantled as a work creation program in the 1930s depression.
Contemporary coal lines
Rangal – Kinrola, 18.5 km, opened 1967
Blackwater – Laleham 41 km, opened 1970
Burngrove – Gregory 65 km, opened 1980. This line was connected to the
Goonyella system in 1983. 2 spurs branch from this line, to Ensham (13.4 km) opened 1997 and Gordonstone (12.8 km), opened 1992.
Sagitarrius – Curragh 12 km, opened 1983
Kinrola – Rollestone (Bauhinia line), 107 km, opened 2005. This line was not electrified when built, with electrification commissioned in December 2014.
Services
In 1892, the Central Western Mail train, with first class sleeping carriages and a
travelling post office
A Travelling Post Office (TPO) was a type of mail train used in Great Britain and Republic of Ireland, Ireland where the post was sorted en route, used from 1830 to 1996, with non-TPO mail trains ending in 2024.
The TPO can be traced back to ...
(TPO), departed Rockhampton three times each week at 10pm, arriving in Longreach at 5pm the following day. Second class sleeping cars were introduced in 1896. The service was extended to Winton when the line was extended there in 1928. Sleeping cars were also provided to Clermont, Springsure and Blackall.
Foot-warmers were introduced in the first class compartments on trains departing Rockhampton in 1911, and provided each winter until 1958.
The first buffet car in Queensland operated between Emerald and Longreach commencing in 1912. The TPO was withdrawn in 1932 as an economic measure.
The air-conditioned ''
Midlander'' was introduced on 4 May 1954. It was replaced by the ''
Spirit of the Outback
The Spirit of the Outback is a long-distance passenger rail service in Queensland, Australia, operated by Queensland Rail's Traveltrain division.
Route
Debuting in November 1993 by combining the former '' Capricornian'' and '' Midlander'' tra ...
'' in November 1993, commencing from
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
and terminating at Longreach, Winton losing its passenger service from that time.
See also
*
Rail transport in Queensland
The rail network in Queensland, Australia, was the first in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a main line. In 2013, it claimed to be the second largest narrow gauge network in the world. The network consists of the following lines:
*the N ...
References
External links
*
{{Railway lines in Queensland, state=collapsed
Central Queensland
Central West Queensland
Railway lines in Queensland
Railway lines opened in 1867
1867 establishments in Australia