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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 4, Issue 1 (May 1, 1929)

Inauguration of the Australian Railways — (continued>

page 44

Inauguration of the Australian Railways
(continued>

Continuing his interesting account of “The Inauguration of the Australian Railways,” Mr. F.-Vogel, of Kogarah, New South Wales, deals, in the following article, with pioneer railway enterprise in Queensland.

The State of Queensland, prior to its separation from New South Wales, was known as the “Morton Bay District.” In 1823. the then Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane, considered that the establishments at Port Jackson (Sydney) and at Port Macquarrie were cramped for habitable space, and, therefore, despatched the Surveyor-General, Mr. Oxley, northwards, to examine Port Curtis.

Mr. Oxley left Sydney in October, 1823, in the cutter “Mermaid,” and reached Port Curtis early in November. After investigation, he considered the place unsuited for settlement, and on his return journey, called at Captain Cook's “Glasshouse Bay” (Morton Bay), where he met two cast-away cedar-getters, who had been driven northwards from Sydney by adverse weather. They informed him that a large river emptied into the bay. He at once sought the entrance, and on 2nd December, 1823, discovered the river, which he named “Brisbane.”

After his arrival in Sydney steps were taken to found a settlement on the banks of the river. This was established in September, 1824.

In 1859 the Morton Bay district was proclaimed an independent colony under the name of Queensland, and the rapid progress the colony made from that time soon demonstrated the necessity of adequate means of communication between the coast and the interior, and the Government was strongly urged to under-take the construction of railways.

A private company contemplated the construction of a tramway, and Parliament empowered the Government to purchase the company's existing plans and other properties, but the Government, considering that such a tramway would not meet the needs of the colony, favoured the construction of a railway to the New South Wales border, with a view to connect ultimately with that colony's railway system.

Honour the Brave. Anzac Day in Melbourne.

Honour the Brave.
Anzac Day in Melbourne.

The first Railway Bill was introduced in the Legislative Assembly in May, 1863. The Minister in charge of the measure advocated, on the grounds of economy, a departure from the system of railway construction followed in the other colonies (which had adopted the 4ft. 8 1/2in. and the 5ft. 3in. gauges). He urged the adoption of the 3ft. 6in. gauge, light rails (40lbs. to the yard), sharp curves and steep grades. As was the position in New range had to be crossed to reach the inland plains, and the estimates showed that, to cross the main range by means of 4ft. 8 1/2in. gauge railway with minimum curves of eight chains radius, the cost, in the items of viaducts alone, would be raised from £6,000 to £35,000 per mile.

After a long debate, the House divided evenly on the Bill, and the second reading was carried only by the casting vote of the Speaker. The Government appealed to the country, and was returned to power with a slight majority. The Bill was re-introduced and assented to in September, 1863.

The contract for the first section of the West-South railway, from Ipswich to the Little Liverpool page 45 Range, was let to the English railway contractors, Messrs. Pets, Brassey and Betts, the first sod being turned at Ipswich on 25th February, 1864, by the first Governor, Sir George Bowen.

The line was opened for traffic in July, 1865, and its extension across the range towards the New South Wales border was carried out with reasonable speed. The two systems were connected at Wallangarra in January, 1888, but, as the gauges differed, all traffic had to be transhipped. (In connection therewith it may be remarked that the New South Wales side of the station was named Jennings, after a former Premier of the colony, while the Queensland side was named “Wallangarra.” As only the platform divided the two station buildings, travellers were at times bewildered by the names, so, after some years, the name Jennings was struck off the map and that of Wallangarra retained.)

The residents of Northern Queensland, deeming it likely that the expenditure on railway construction in the South would result in the neglecting of the North, petitioned Parliament not to entertain any project for the construction of railways until further representation had been granted to the Northern districts, and that, in the event of any railway scheme being adopted, mile of railway should be built in the North.

In August, 1865, a tender for the construction of the first section—30 miles—of the Great Northern line—now named the “Central”—was accepted, and the first sod turned in October, by the Governor, at the seaport of Rock-hampton. The section was opened for traffic in September, 1867.

Epochs in the History of a Nation. (Photo, Govt. Printer, New South Wales.) The opening, in 1854, of the first railway in Australia.

Epochs in the History of a Nation.
(Photo, Govt. Printer, New South Wales.)
The opening, in 1854, of the first railway in Australia.

In 1872, a Royal Commission recommended that the existing portion of the Great Northern Railway be converted from the 3ft 6in gauge to 2ft. 9in., and that all extensions be built to this latter gauge. The North, however, refused such a toy railway, and, by threatening separation, succeeded in retaining the wider gauge.

While in the other colonies the capital cities were selected as the starting points for the railways, a different policy was followed in Queensland.

Ipswich is situated on a tributary of the Brisbane River, the Bremer, which is navigable only by small craft. Ipswich possessed commanding political influence, and the fate of Ministries depended, to a large extent, on the page 46 favour of the Ipswich Parliamentary Members, who were known as the “Ipswich Bunch”—who laid down the principle that the starting point for the railways should be at the head of navigation, irrespective of the claims of the capital city, and of the fact that ocean-going ships could not ascend the Bremer. Up to July, 1866, over £50,000 had been spent on the deepening of the river, that Ipswich might remain the head of navigation.

In 1871, a Select Committee reported to Parliament in favour of the Ipswich-Brisbane railway extension, but the report was rejected after a close division, and, as the Government had a majority of one only, Parliament was dissolved, and, at the ensuing election, the “Squatters' Party” and the obstructive “Ipswich Bunch” were again successful in returning the Government to power.

In the House, during a debate on the question, it was pointed out that if the train missed the tide at Ipswich, passengers to Brisbane had to wait until the following day, while passengers from Brisbane had to wait and watch for the tides. Furthermore, the distance by water was 51 miles as against 23 miles by land.

The Minister, in reply, stated that it was not necessary to substitute railway communication for that of water, at any rate as far as goods were concerned. If a railway were constructed it would be for passenger traffic only, as goods would always be sent by the cheaper route to Brisbane—namely, down the Bremer River by lighters.

In 1872, a Royal Commission reported in favour of the railway being constructed without delay, between Ipswich and Brisbane, to the existing gauge.

The Government at last dealt seriously with the question, and a Loan Act, passed the same year, included a sum of £192,000 for this line, being at the rate of £8,000 per mile.

The first sod was turned on 30th January, 1873, but the line was not opened for traffic until June, 1875. Even then it was not quite finished, and for some time everything was in a makeshift condition.

The great extent of the Eastern coast line, 2,250 miles, from Point Danger to Cape York, several important seaports, and the diversity of climate and production, led to the construction of isolated railway systems from the coast into the interior, but these are now connected by means of the Coast line from Cairns in the North, to Brisbane in the South.

In 1874, and also subsequently, a large number of proposals for the construction of private railways on the land grant system were received by the Government, but the demands for land and other concessions were so exorbitant that all applications were rejected.

From the beginning, Queensland has followed a vigorous railway policy, with a view to opening up the far inland pastoral and mining districts, and, although the losses on working have, at times, been heavy, they are more than counter-balanced by the indirect benefits which, especially in new countries, the railways confer, by the opening of what otherwise would be inaccessible country.

The Committee of the Combined Staffs of Lower Hutt Workshops and the Maintenance Shops at Kaiwarra, which organised the recent successful picnic at Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt, Wellington.

The Committee of the Combined Staffs of Lower Hutt Workshops and the Maintenance Shops at Kaiwarra, which organised the recent successful picnic at Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt, Wellington.