The Maryvale railway line was a

branch railway A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a Main line (railway), main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city ...

in the

Southern 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 ...

region of

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Maryvale Estate to the north east of

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

was purchased by the government and subdivided into farms. A branch line to service the region was approved in 1908. Opened on 30 September 1911, the line branched from the

Southern main line The Southern Main Line () is a long standard gauge electrified railway between Malmö and Katrineholm in Sweden. The trains continue further on to Stockholm Central Station along the Western Main Line and terminate there (at platforms 16–19). ...

at Killarney Junction (now named Mill Hill) and stretched about 30 kilometres to Maryvale via Womina, Sladevale, Campbell's Plains, Freestone, Clintonvale and Gladfield. The line was intended to be part of a ''via recta'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, "straight route") from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Prior to the completion of the

New South Wales Government Railways New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales that administered rail transport in the colony, and then the state, of New South Wales, Australia, between 1855 and 1932. History The NSWGR built ...

North Coast Line in 1932, the only rail link from Brisbane to Sydney was via the break-of-gauge at

Wallangarra Wallangarra is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia on the border with New South Wales. It is the third-most southerly town in Queensland, south west of Brisbane. Wal ...

on the state border, where the two states' railway systems met. The route from Brisbane to Wallangarra went west from Brisbane to

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

then south to Wallangarra. The ''via recta'' was a putative short-cut south-west from

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

to Warwick, which would have shortened the distance from Brisbane to Sydney by between 92 km and 95 km. The ''via recta'' would have consisted of the Maryvale branch from Warwick, the Mount Edwards branch from Ipswich, through

Spicers Gap Spicers Gap is a mountain pass that is located west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and was the original route over the Great Dividing Range in the area around Brisbane. Today it is included in Main Range National Park and is a popular dest ...

(just south of

Cunninghams Gap Cunningham's Gap is a pass over the Great Dividing Range between the Darling Downs and the Fassifern Valley in Queensland, Australia. The Gap is the major route over the Main Range along the Great Dividing Range, between Warwick and Brisbane. ...

) through the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

. The ''

Warwick Argus The ''Warwick Argus'' was a newspaper published in Warwick, Queensland, Australia from 1879 to 1919. History The ''Warwick Argus'' was preceded by the '' Warwick Argus and Tenterfield Chronicle'' published between November 1864 and 21 August 1 ...

'' reported that the citizens of Toowoomba were unhappy at the prospect of the ''via recta'' being built, as interstate traffic would bypass their town. Trial surveys for the ''via recta'' line began as early as 1880, and the first sod on the Maryvale line was turned on 18 March 1910 by

Premier of Queensland The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

William Kidston William Kidston (17 August 1849 – 25 October 1919) was an Australian bookseller, politician and Premier of Queensland, from January 1906 to November 1907 and again from February 1908 to February 1911. Early life William Kidston was born in F ...

. However, once the standard gauge line from NSW was extended north to

South Brisbane South Brisbane is an inner southern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , South Brisbane had a population of 14,292 people. Geography South Brisbane is on the southern bank of the Brisbane River, bounded to the nor ...

in 1930, the rationale for the ''via recta'' disappeared and the project was abandoned. A daily mixed train began on the line and was later reduced to a thrice-weekly service. A rail motor service began in 1930 and linked with the Sydney Mail at Warwick. A 1932 timetable showed five

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 ...

s and one

mixed train A mixed train or mixed consist is a train that contains both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In some countries, the term refers to a freight train carrying various different types of freight rather a single commodity. Although common in the ...

per week running in each direction on the Maryvale line, with extra goods services during the wheat season. The line closed on 1 November 1960 after the

Cunningham Highway The Cunningham Highway is a National Highway (Australia), national highway located in South East Queensland, south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The highway links the Darling Downs region with the urbanised outskirts of Ipswich, Queensland, I ...

was upgraded through

due to the increasing popularity of road transport, thus ending all hope of the ''via recta'' line being built.

References

"Triumph of Narrow Gauge: A History of Queensland Railways" by John Kerr 1990 & 1998 Boolarong Press, Brisbane

External links

1925 map of the Queensland railway system
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maryvale Railway Line Railway lines opened in 1911 Closed railway lines in Queensland Railway lines closed in 1960 1911 establishments in Australia 1960 disestablishments in Australia Darling Downs

See also

References

External links