The Mount Edwards 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

Scenic Rim The Scenic Rim is a group of forested mountain ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located south of Brisbane agglomeration, straddling the border between south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. In 2021, the Sce ...

region of

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

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 ...

. The lines serves a number of small towns in the

Fassifern Valley Fassifern Valley is a valley of the Scenic Rim in South East Queensland. Towns found in the valley include Harrisville, Queensland, Harrisville, Kalbar, Queensland, Kalbar, Roadvale, Queensland, Roadvale, Warrill View, Queensland, Warril View ...

. The first stage of the Mount Edwards line opened from Munbilla to Engelsburg (now Kalbar) on 17 April 1916, but the next stage to Mount Edwards was not completed until 7 October 1922. The line closed on 1 November 1960.

Geography

The 25 km long line branched off the Dugandan line at the rural locality of Munbilla 38 km south of the city of

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, ...

. The line then proceeded in a generally south-westerly direction to the locality of Mount Edwards near the village of

Aratula Aratula is a rural town and locality in the Scenic Rim Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Aratula had a population of 609 people. Geography Aratula is approximately by road southwest of Ipswich. The Cunningham Highway en ...

History

The line was intended to form 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") between

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 ...

and

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 ...

via the break-of-gauge border town of

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 ...

. Before the completion of the New South Wales North Coast Line in 1930, rail traffic between the two state capitals travelled 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 via

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 ...

. The ''via recta'' was to incorporate the Mount Edwards line and the Maryvale line on the other side of 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 ...

to produce a direct route southwest from Brisbane to Warwick, shaving around 95 km off the interstate journey. However, the ''via recta'' was never completed.

Route

References

External links

1925 map of the Queensland railway system

Via Recta – The Railway That Never Was
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Edwards Railway Line Railway lines opened in 1922 Closed railway lines in Queensland Railway lines closed in 1960 Scenic Rim Region 1922 establishments in Australia 1960 disestablishments in Australia

Geography

History

Route

See also

References

External links