Unique Railway - Werris Creek, NSW, Australia
S 31° 20.870 E 150° 38.783
56J E 276099 N 6529455
This Historical Marker is by the 'alleyway' to a Figurative Sculpture, and runs through the history of Queensland's railway system.
Waymark Code: WM1134Z
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 08/07/2019
Views: 2
The stainless steel plaque near the northern end of the alley that leads to the 'Fireman/Driver' Sculpture shares the origin of the railway in Queensland, or 'Queensland Railway - QR, as follows:
"Be that as it may, we, in common with the whole community hail with pleasure the inauguration of the Railway in Queensland." (Brisbane Courier, Monday, July 24, 1865)
'QR represents one of the largest and most diverse railway systems in Australia.
'QR began with the first section of railway in Queensland between Ipswich and Bigges Camp (Grandchester) on 31 July 1865, a distance of 35 kilometres. From the beginning in 1865 the railway system eventually spread throughout Queensland, to encompass most of the state, with an overall length of over ten thousand kilometres. The development of the railway system was different to other parts of Australia, with separate railways being built from coastal ports to the interior of the state. A decentralised policy allowed for a railway network that linked communities in isolated parts of Queensland to be connected with the major town that had access to the sea.
'QR created its own unique railway culture. The choice of gauge narrower than the southern colonies, adoption of small engine power, light tracks, was all based on a decision to provide reliable transport, to a small population scattered over a large geographic area.
'The larger metropolitan based railway, leading away from the capital city, was not followed in the creation of the railways in Queensland. Time and distance, and economy, were the traditional constraints in the story, but the railway proved to be lifeline for many communities in Queensland and indeed created many railway towns.
'QR today has changed since the first pony railway of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Since the 1980's and especially during the last decade of the twentieth century, and early twenty-first century, the railway landscape of Queensland, and even nationally has changed in many cases beyond recognition. QR today hauls tonnages over its freight network that would have been beyond the comprehension of our early railway pioneers. It hauls passengers, in numbers, that dwarf our first trains. Within QR there are still many people who call themselves part of the "Queensland railway family".
Address:
Werris Creek Road/Railway Station, Werris Creek, NSW, 2341
Visited: 0942, Tuesday, 7 May, 2019