Mungar Junction to Monto Branch Railway
Encyclopedia
The Mungar Junction to Monto Branch Railway is in Queensland
, Australia
. Having lost out to Bundaberg for a rail link to Mount Perry
, Maryborough
turned the tables by securing a link to the Central and Upper Burnett districts of Queensland, where mineral
s had been found. Progressively opened between 1889 and 1928 the line branched from the North Coast line
at Mungar Junction a short distance west of Maryborough and struck a north-westerly route towards Biggenden and Gayndah before continuing on via Mundubbera and Eidsvold
to Monto
. No less than eleven stages were constructed along its 267 kilometre path. The line is now closed to passengers. A goods train ferries mainly timber
and produce.
word for “crab
” or “crayfish
”) acquired that name in 1890. Brooweena has always relied heavily on the local sawmill
and the railway provided ready transport of timber.
” and is at the heart of a large citrus
growing area. It is Queensland’s oldest provincial town and was once favoured to be the state capital.
and pig
s occurred.
on 15 September 1928. Stops were established at Lacon, Riverleigh, O’Bil Bil, Malmoe, Grosvenor and Eidsvold en route to Ceratodus as part of stage nine. Ceratodus
takes its name from the lungfish
(neoceratodus forsteri) an air-breathing fish which inhabits the nearby Burnett River
. The Archer brothers settled the Eidsvold
region in 1848. Although of Scottish
origin, they later moved to Norway
. Eidsvold is named after a small Norwegian town where that country’s constitution was signed. Sidings were built at Jirette, Cynthia, Abercorn, Anyarro, Kapaldo and Selene when stage ten to Mulgildie (spelt “Mulgeldie” until 1945 ) was completed. The eleventh and final stage saw the line terminate via Three Moon at Monto. The journey from Brisbane
to Monto by mixed train took some fourteen hours or, by connecting with the mail train at Mungar, twenty-one hours.
(near Gladstone
) south-west to Monto between 1910 and 1931. Completion of that line thus provided a semi-circular inland link between Maryborough and Gladstone. Because light track was laid between Mungar Junction and Mundubbera, the route was never an alternative when floods or derailments blocked the North Coast line.
Plans for another track to approach Monto from the north did not eventuate. A line from Rannes and Thangool (the Callide Valley Branch Railway) terminated at Lawgi a short distance to the north.
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Having lost out to Bundaberg for a rail link to Mount Perry
Mount Perry railway line
The Mount Perry Branch Railway is a closed railway line in Central Queensland, Australia. In 1869 copper was discovered at Mount Perry in the Bundaberg region of Queensland, Australia and the township grew rapidly. A railway to the coast was essential to provide cheap transport and make the mining...
, Maryborough
Maryborough, Queensland
Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...
turned the tables by securing a link to the Central and Upper Burnett districts of Queensland, where mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
s had been found. Progressively opened between 1889 and 1928 the line branched from the North Coast line
North Coast railway line, Queensland
The North Coast railway line is a narrow gauge railway line in Queensland, Australia. It runs from Brisbane, along the Queensland coast to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The line is electrified between Brisbane and Rockhampton...
at Mungar Junction a short distance west of Maryborough and struck a north-westerly route towards Biggenden and Gayndah before continuing on via Mundubbera and Eidsvold
Eidsvold, Queensland
Eidsvold is a small town in the North Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. It is situated on the Burnett Highway approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town is the self-proclaimed Beef Capital of the Burnett and is a hub for the regional cattle industry...
to Monto
Monto, Queensland
Monto is a town in Queensland, Australia, located on the Burnett Highway north-west of Brisbane and south of Rockhampton. The town was the administrative centre of Monto Shire. At the 2006 census, Monto had a population of 1,159.-History:...
. No less than eleven stages were constructed along its 267 kilometre path. The line is now closed to passengers. A goods train ferries mainly timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
and produce.
To Brooweena
The first section from Mungar Junction to Brooweena was opened on 29 July 1889 and sidings were established at Pilerwa, Yerra, Thinoomba, Hunter’s Hut and Aramara. Originally called Teebar and later known as Clifton and then Woocoo , Brooweena (perhaps an AboriginalAustralian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
word for “crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
” or “crayfish
Crayfish
Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...
”) acquired that name in 1890. Brooweena has always relied heavily on the local sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
and the railway provided ready transport of timber.
To Boompa, Biggenden and Degilbo
Opened on 1 March 1891 the second stage brought the line a short distance to Boompa and, on 13 April 1891, via Lakeside to the larger settlement of Biggenden. The fourth stage saw the line opened a short distance west of Biggenden to Degilbo (then known as Woowoonga) on 1 April 1893. A very busy railhead thrived and goods were reconsigned by wagon to the likes of Gayndah, Mundubbera and Eidsvold.To Wetheron and Gayndah
The next two stages were opened to Wetheron on 21 December 1905 and to Gayndah on 16 December 1907. The line passed through small sidings at Muan, Chowey, Didcot, Gooroolba and Byrnestown en route to Wetheron and at Mount Lawless, Dappil and Ideraway en route to Gayndah. Gayndah apparently takes its name from the local Aboriginal word for “thunderThunder
Thunder is the sound made by lightning. Depending on the nature of the lightning and distance of the listener, thunder can range from a sharp, loud crack to a long, low rumble . The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces rapid expansion of the air surrounding and within...
” and is at the heart of a large citrus
Citrus
Citrus is a common term and genus of flowering plants in the rue family, Rutaceae. Citrus is believed to have originated in the part of Southeast Asia bordered by Northeastern India, Myanmar and the Yunnan province of China...
growing area. It is Queensland’s oldest provincial town and was once favoured to be the state capital.
To Boomerang
Some six years passed before the seventh stage to Boomerang was opened on 1 November 1913 passing through Banapan, Dirnbir, Mount Debateable and Humphrey. The next stage saw the opening of the line to Philpott Creek and Mundubbera on 3 February 1914. Freight transport increased as two sawmills consigned timber east and frequent shipments of cattleCattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
and pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
s occurred.
To Ceratodus, Mulgildie and Monto
The balance of the line to Monto was opened in three stages – to Ceratodus on 26 April 1924, to Mulgildie on 20 June 1927 and finally to MontoMonto, Queensland
Monto is a town in Queensland, Australia, located on the Burnett Highway north-west of Brisbane and south of Rockhampton. The town was the administrative centre of Monto Shire. At the 2006 census, Monto had a population of 1,159.-History:...
on 15 September 1928. Stops were established at Lacon, Riverleigh, O’Bil Bil, Malmoe, Grosvenor and Eidsvold en route to Ceratodus as part of stage nine. Ceratodus
Ceratodus, Queensland
Ceratodus is a settlement in Queensland, Australia on the Burnett River about from Eidsvold, Queensland.-History:The name Ceratodus was given to the settlement about 1922 and derives from that of the Queensland lungfish, neoceratodus forsteri. A railway station opened here 26 April 1924...
takes its name from the lungfish
Lungfish
Lungfish are freshwater fish belonging to the Subclass Dipnoi. Lungfish are best known for retaining characteristics primitive within the Osteichthyes, including the ability to breathe air, and structures primitive within Sarcopterygii, including the presence of lobed fins with a well-developed...
(neoceratodus forsteri) an air-breathing fish which inhabits the nearby Burnett River
Burnett River
The Burnett River is a river in central Queensland, Australia that empties into the Pacific Ocean near the city of Bundaberg. The Burnett River region is largely given over to growing sugar cane....
. The Archer brothers settled the Eidsvold
Eidsvold, Queensland
Eidsvold is a small town in the North Burnett region of Queensland, Australia. It is situated on the Burnett Highway approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town is the self-proclaimed Beef Capital of the Burnett and is a hub for the regional cattle industry...
region in 1848. Although of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
origin, they later moved to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Eidsvold is named after a small Norwegian town where that country’s constitution was signed. Sidings were built at Jirette, Cynthia, Abercorn, Anyarro, Kapaldo and Selene when stage ten to Mulgildie (spelt “Mulgeldie” until 1945 ) was completed. The eleventh and final stage saw the line terminate via Three Moon at Monto. The journey from Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
to Monto by mixed train took some fourteen hours or, by connecting with the mail train at Mungar, twenty-one hours.
Other lines
Overlapping development of the Mungar Junction to Monto link was construction of a branch line from ByelleeGladstone to Monto railway line
Gladstone to Monto Branch Railway. The Boyne Valley west of Gladstone in Queensland, Australia was predominantly a dairying region and a railway had little justification. However a branch was justified in 1906 on the basis of large traffic in timber, fuel, limestone and flexing ores...
(near Gladstone
Gladstone, Queensland
- Education :Gladstone has several primary schools, three high schools, and one university campus, Central Queensland University. It is also home to CQIT Gladstone Campus.- Recreation :...
) south-west to Monto between 1910 and 1931. Completion of that line thus provided a semi-circular inland link between Maryborough and Gladstone. Because light track was laid between Mungar Junction and Mundubbera, the route was never an alternative when floods or derailments blocked the North Coast line.
Plans for another track to approach Monto from the north did not eventuate. A line from Rannes and Thangool (the Callide Valley Branch Railway) terminated at Lawgi a short distance to the north.