Rail works – Moreton Bay and More

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 onContinue reading “Railways in Old Queensland, in Pictures.”

Coaches, Railways, Cabs and New-Fangled Automobiles

How we got from A to B in old Queensland. Cobb & Co. Cobb & Co was founded in Victoria in 1853, by an American with a splendidly American name, Freeman Cobb. It was a version of the pony express at first, trading as “American Telegraph Line of Coaches.” Horses were changed regularly, and speedContinue reading “Coaches, Railways, Cabs and New-Fangled Automobiles”

Work and Business in the 1860s and 1870s

Separation from New South Wales, exploration and the gold rushes of the 1860s had opened up Queensland. Towns were proclaimed, from the tropical north to the far west, and businesses and infrastructure followed. Railways would gradually cross the colony, replacing the bullock teams and carts that slowly dragged goods across rough bush tracks and over creeks.Continue reading “Work and Business in the 1860s and 1870s”