The Cecil Plains Branch was a branch railway line on the

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 ...

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. It branched from the Western railway line at

Oakey Oakey is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Oakey Army Aviation Centre, Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport. In the , the locality of Oakey had a pop ...

and terminated at

Cecil Plains Cecil Plains is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Cecil Plains had a population of 380 people. Geography Cecil Plains is in the Darling Downs ...

, a distance of . It operated from 1914 to 1994.

History

On 5 December 1911, the

Parliament of Queensland The Parliament of Queensland is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative body of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. As provided under the Constitution of Queensland, the Parliament consists o ...

approved the construction of a line to run from the Darling Downs town of Oakey southwest to the Mount Russell region. Work began in May 1914 and the line to Mount Russell opened on 20 September 1915 terminating at the newly named town of Evanslea. Intermediate stops were established at Tangkam, Yargullen, Aubigny, Purrawunda,

Motley Motley is the traditional costume of the court jester, the motley fool, or the arlecchino character in ''commedia dell'arte''. The harlequin wears a patchwork of red, green and blue diamonds that is still a fashion motif. The word ''motley'' is ...

, Boora-Mugga, Mount Tyson and Mondam. In 1917, work began on a extension of the line further west to Cecil Plains, with intermediate stops established at Norillee, Bongeen, Norwin, Mywybilla, Nangwee and Horrane. That section of the line opened on 29 April 1919. A passenger

rail motor A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

service plied the line fortnightly during the 1940s, and weekly during the 1950s, until withdrawn. The line was officially closed in 1994. A 1.3-kilometre section of the Cecil Plains line was rebuilt in 2016, using more than 1900 sleepers and 2,300 tonnes of ballast. this was undertaken so as to allow Oakey Beef Exports to move cattle by rail (through

Watco Australia Watco Australia is a rail haulage operator that was formed in 2010 to haul grain for the CBH Group in Western Australia. In 2019, it commenced operating in Queensland under a contract with GrainCorp. It is a subsidiary of Watco. History In 200 ...

) from

Quilpie Quilpie ( ) is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Quilpie, Shire of Quilpie, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Quilpie had a population of 530 people. The town is the administrative cent ...

, Charleville, Morven,

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and Mitchell.

References

External links

1925 map of the Queensland railway system
{{Railway lines in Queensland , state=expanded Closed railway lines in Queensland Darling Downs Railway lines opened in 1915 1915 establishments in Australia Railway lines closed in 1994 1994 disestablishments in Australia