Mount Edwards railway line
{{Short description|Former railway line in South East Queensland, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2012}}
{{GeoGroup}}
{{Mount Edwards Line}}
The Mount Edwards railway line was a branch railway in the Scenic Rim region of South East Queensland, Australia. The lines serves a number of small towns in the Fassifern Valley. 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.{{cite book|last=Kerr|first=John|title=Triumph of narrow gauge : a history of Queensland Railways|date=1990|publisher=Boolarong Publications|isbn=978-0-86439-102-5|page=224}} The line closed on 1 November 1960.{{Cite web|author=Southern Downs Steam Railway|date=2009|title='Via recta' – The line that never was|url=http://www.southerndownssteamrailway.com.au/historical_info/via_recta.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912090308/http://www.southerndownssteamrailway.com.au/historical_info/via_recta.php|archive-date=12 September 2009|accessdate=25 October 2009}}{{Cite web|author=QR Limited|title=Rail as foremost mode of travel|url=http://www.corporate.qr.com.au/history/competition/competition.asp|url-status=dead|accessdate=25 October 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912170503/http://www.corporate.qr.com.au/history/competition/competition.asp|archivedate=12 September 2009}}
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. The line then proceeded in a generally south-westerly direction to the locality of Mount Edwards near the village of Aratula.
History
The line was intended to form part of a via recta (Latin, "straight route") between Brisbane and Sydney via the break-of-gauge border town of Wallangarra. 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 then south to Wallangarra via Warwick. The via recta was to incorporate the Mount Edwards line and the Maryvale line on the other side of the Great Dividing Range 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
| class="wikitable"
|+Stations on the Mount Edwards railway line !Distance from Ipswich !Name !Coordinates !Altitude !Notes |
| |Junction with Dugundan line
|{{Coord |
| 27.8714|152.6563|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|display=|name=Junction with Mount Edwards line}}
| |Immediately south-west of Munbilla railway station.{{Cite web|date=1955|title=Queensland Two Mile series sheet 2m38|url=https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-2mile-qld-2m38-admin-bdy-1955.jpg|url-status=live|access-date=4 January 2022|publisher=Queensland Government|type=Map|archive-date=21 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621054045/https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/cad_scans/cad-map-2mile-qld-2m38-admin-bdy-1955.jpg}} |
| {{convert|26|mi|56|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 27.90333|152.63278|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Waraperta railway station (former)}}
|{{Convert|247|ft}} |On Munbillla Road (now in Kents Lagoon).{{Cite news|date=1927|title=Flinders|publisher=Queensland Government|type=Map|url=https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/topo_scans/topo-map-1mile-military-line-colour-flinders-1927-1.jpg|access-date=2 January 2021|archive-date=29 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529024643/https://gisservices.information.qld.gov.au/arcgis/rest/directories/historicalscans/topo_scans/topo-map-1mile-military-line-colour-flinders-1927-1.jpg|url-status=live}}{{Cite QPN|39340|Warperta|railway station (now absent) in Scenic Rim Region|access-date=4 January 2022}} |
| {{convert|29|mi|39|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 27.93924|152.62090|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Kalbar railway station (former)}}
|{{Convert|262|ft}} |
| {{convert|31|mi|34|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 27.95715|152.61082|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Warumkarie railway station (former)}}
|{{Convert|308|ft}} |
| {{convert|32|mi|60|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 27.97297|152.59979|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Fassifern Valley railway station}}
|{{Convert|295|ft}} |
| {{convert|34|mi|30|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 27.97299|152.57734|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Morwincha railway station (former)}}
|{{Convert|312|ft}} |
| {{convert|36|mi|2|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 27.98252|152.55450|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Aratula railway station (former)}}
|{{Convert|357|ft}} |
| {{convert|39|mi|70|ch}}
|{{Coord |
| 28.02136|152.51578|type:railwaystation_region:AU-QLD|name=Mount Edwards railway station (former)}}
|{{Convert|621|ft}} |Terminus, on the southern corner of the Cunningham Highway and Lake Moogerah Road |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.qhatlas.com.au/map/extent-queensland-railway-network-1925/ 1925 map of the Queensland railway system]
- [http://maryvaleqld.com.au/Via-Recta.php/ Via Recta – The Railway That Never Was]
{{Railway lines in Queensland |state=expanded}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Edwards Railway Line}}
Category:Railway lines opened in 1922
Category:Closed railway lines in Queensland
Category:Railway lines closed in 1960