Great Northern Railway
The Great Northern Railway stretches nearly 1,000 kilometres, connecting Mount Isa's mines to Townsville's port.
Initially approved in 1877 after gold was discovered at Ravenswood (1868) and Charters Towers (1872), the first section to Reid River, with sidings at Stuart, Antill Plains, Toonpan, Woodstock and Calcium, opened on 20 December 1880.
The second section, climbing the Haughton Range to Ravenswood Junction (Mingela) using 1 in 25 grades and 65-metre curves to minimise construction costs, opened on 9 November 1881. The third section to the Burdekin River at Macrossan via Sellheim opened on 24 July 1882.
After the line reached Charters Towers in December 1882, the 140-kilometre journey from Townsville took five hours. It proved so successful that the original Haughton Range section was realigned in 1887 with a gentler 1 in 50 (2%) gradient. The Flinders Highway now uses the original alignment. When the Queensland Parliament approved an extension of the line to Hughenden in 1881, the work again opened in stages:
- to Homestead via Southern Cross, Powlathanga, Balfes Creek, Mungunburra and Thalanga on 11 February 1884;
- to Pentland via Kimburra and Cape River on 6 October 1884;
- to Torrens Creek via Warrigal and Burra on 5 October 1885;
- to Prairie via Wareah and Karoon on 3 January 1887;
- to Hughenden via Tindo, Jardine Valley and Poorooga on 19 October 1887.
The Queensland Government, seeking to encourage settlement in the colony's far west, approved an extension of the line to Winton in 1896 and 1897. Again, the work proceeded in three stages:
- to Stamford via Watten, Alba and Warianna (opened 13 December 1897);
- to Corfield Chinbi, Whitewood and Tarvano to Corfield (opened 15 October 1898);
- to Winton via Olio, Lana, Prubi, Oondooroo and Rangelands (opened 5 July 1899).
The original bridge over the Burdekin was replaced by a new structure designed by chief railway engineer Henry Charles Stanley in 1899. Although replaced by a third bridge in 1964, the second bridge remains on the Queensland Heritage Register.
In the meantime, proposals to link Cloncurry's copper fields to Normanton saw the line diverted to Croydon after gold was discovered there. Although Cloncurry lacked rail access to a port, the 1890s economic depression limited the colonial government's resources. With the link to Winton in place, a westward extension of the line from Hughenden was a logical next step when conditions improved. Work on the first stage to Richmond began in 1902, with the first section to Marathon via Ballindallock, Boree, Dunluce, and Mumu completed on 15 December 1903. The line reached Richmond via Barabon and Moselle on 1 June 1904.
Extensions to Julia Creek and Cloncurry were approved in late 1905 and December 1906, respectively. Work began in September 1906. Temporary crossings of dry river beds ahead of more permanent bridges saw trains reach the new termini well ahead of the official opening dates. That explains the discrepancy between the first train to arrive at Julia Creek via Gemoka, Maxwelton, Nonda, Nelia and Quarells (June 1907) and the station's official opening on 29 February 1908. Similarly, Cloncurry's first train via Eddington, Gilliat, Tibarri, Bookin, Oorindi, Undina, Pymurra, Kaampa and Oonoomurra arrived on 14 December 1907, with the ceremonial opening a day short of a year later. At that point, the weekly mail train from Townsville took almost twenty-four hours to reach Cloncurry.
From Cloncurry, three lines to mining districts in the northwest opened over the next twenty years.
- The Selwyn line running south from Cloncurry to the Hampden and Mt Elliott copper mines opened on 15 December 1910, carrying smelted copper to the coast and coking coal on the return journeys.
- The Dajarra line ran southwest from the Selwyn line, branching off at Malbon to reach Duchess (opened 21 October 1912) and Dajarra (opened 16 April 1917).
- A third extension followed the 1923 discovery of vast silver and lead deposits at Mount Isa. Although the Government was reluctant to invest in what might be a short-lived operation, the mining company guaranteed any losses. Construction began in 1926 via Myubee, Woonigan, Kurbayia, and Rifle Creek, and the line opened on 27 May 1929. Contrary to the Government's expectations, Mount Isa became one of the world's most successful mining operations.
Shortly after the line reached Mount Isa, its first branch line from Ravenswood to Ravenswood Junction, which had opened on 1 December 1884, closed in November 1930. The line ran via the silver mining operations at Kirk River, around forty kilometres from Ravenswood Junction, and though silver smelting faltered in 1886, the line continued to operate, carrying passengers, cattle, minerals and firewood. The closure saw Ravenswood Junction renamed Mingela.
Originally part of the Great Northern Line, the line from Hughenden to Winton, which opened in 1889, closed in 2008.
