The crossing of the rivers on the western line from
Toowoomba to
Charleville provided most of the major engineering obstacles to construction of what became known as the Western Line.
The Western Line does not run due west but as far as
Chinchilla runs to the north west. The first section to
Dalby was part of the original railway scheme, and opened to Jondaryan on 18 November 1867 and
Dalby on 16 April 1868. Lack of funds prevented further extension. When the extension was made it was not through the established township of
Condamine, on the original survey, but to the north, with
Chinchilla and
Miles (named after the Minister for Railways) established after the arrival of the railway. Malaria was prevalent during construction of the line west from
Dalby where it was in proximity to the
Condamine River.
Image Could Not Be Found
The line to
Roma opened in sections, to Warra on 10 September 1877,
Chinchilla on 3 January 1878,
Miles on 1 August 1878,
Dulacca on 3 March 1879, Channing on 30 June 1879, Yuleba on 25 October 1879, Blythdale on 12 January 1880, Bungil on 21 June 1880 and
Roma on 16 September 1880. Construction west from
Roma proceeded through the 1880s (there were several proposals to build a land grant railway, into western New South Wales and to
Adelaide through the south west, all beginning at
Roma).
The line opened to East
Mitchell on 8 October 1883, and, after construction of the Maranoa River
bridge, into
Mitchell on 17 January 1885, Dulbydilla on 24 August 1885,
Morven on 1 March 1887 and
Charleville on 1 March 1888. The line down the
Warrego from
Charleville opened to
Wyandra on 1 July 1897 and
Cunnamulla on 10 October 1898.
Image Could Not Be Found
In the 1888 timetable the from
Brisbane to
Roma was officially called the Western Mail, with some runs extended through to
Morven. With the opening of the line from
Morven to
Charleville on 1 March 1888 the train was again extended. The Westlander was upgraded in the early 1950s with new steel air-conditioned carriages. The route taken was 971 km between
Brisbane to
Cunnamulla, with a side service to
Quilpie. The trains were divided at
Charleville, which is 777 km from
Brisbane. The service was introduced on August 24, 1954. The service to
Quilpie was nicknamed the Flying Flea and consisted of two passenger carriages, a locomotive, guards van and power van. Passengers boarded at
Cunnamulla at 9.00 am and arrived into
Brisbane at lunchtime the next day, with the branch to
Cunnamulla being limited to 30
miles per hour (48 km/h), but with the lack of quality roads the train was still preferred. By 1957 freight wagons were also attached to the train, including louvred steel QRX and QLX-T wagons, and MPR refrigerated wagons. Up to 16 vehicles could make up the train. Passenger
services to
Quilpie and
Cunnamulla beyond
Charleville were withdrawn in 1994.
Westlander - Mungallala
And for a little more twist on the story
TRACY COSTER / FLYING FLEA
.