Railways in Old Queensland, in Pictures.

I don’t know much about trains. (Early on very still mornings, I can hear the distant sound of a train horn at Grovely Station.) However, I am aware of the profound impact of rail travel in old Queensland. Goods that had previously travelled at the speed of a bullock train could arrive in hours on the railways. People became more mobile, able to visit distant parts of the colony without the discomfort of horse-drawn carriages and fear of lurking bushrangers.

The infrastructure that built the railways was man-and-horse powered, and many of the stations and bridges constructed had a certain stately beauty to them.

Here are some of the locomotives and the works that supported them.

The Locomotives

Locomotive personnel with the “Lady Bowen,” 1864.

Endless places and institutions were named after Diamantina, the wife of Sir George Bowen. Naturally, a locomotive was added to the list. (Colonial men loved to lean on things. Certainly a familiarity that Lady Bowen herself would not have tolerated.)

“Faugh a Ballagh” 1865.

“Faugh a Ballagh,” meaning “clear the way” may, according to community feedback to the Queensland State Archives, have been the first locomotive to have been erected and fired in Queensland.

Governor Cairns, 1874.

Governor Cairns was a sickly man who suffered dreadfully in the Queensland heat. Queensland thoughtfully named a tropical city after him, as well as a steam-belching locomotive.

American locomotive Baldwin, 1877.

Now this locomotive means business – American-style business.

E Class locomotive fitted with cow watcher, 1878.

Cows of the outback, beware!

Train pulling into Eagle Junction Railway Station, 1894.

And here is the sight that few photographers were able to catch – a steam train in motion.

Building the railways

Holmes’ Railway Camp, 1865. Work-life balance meant living in huts near the worksite.
Digging the largest railway tunnel, Kuranda, 1890. The sheer effort and ingenuity involved is mind-boggling.
Laying the railway line at Stanthorpe, 1880.
Sir Samuel Griffith and party at the Kuranda railway, 1890s. A photo-op with a politician was an occupational hazard for anyone building infrastructure, then as now.

Wharves and stations

Original Ipswich Station, 1870. An early example of park-and-ride, judging by the carriage tracks leading to the building.
Gladstone Jetty Wharf, 1870. The design of this intrigues – a way to keep goods flowing back and forth with little interruption.
Railway Wharves, South Brisbane, 1890.
Roma Street Station towards Toowong seen from Wickham Terrace, 1890.
Antigua Bridge, Mary River, 1880. High and mighty – to keep the floods at bay.
Flood damage on the Logan River railway bridge from Beenleigh side, 1887.
Steam train after a boiler explosion, Roma Street station, 1897.

Photographs have been sourced from the digital collection of the State Library of Queensland, and Queensland State Archives (Items 1176299, 3579554, 3580094, 3580369, 3580354, 3580391, 1176296, 3580092, 3579816, 3579510, 3579755.)

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