Crows Nest Branch Railway was originally surveyed as a direct line from Toowoomba north to Crows Nest in Queensland, Australia. The branch eventually took a more circuitous route to cover the maximum amount of farming country. The first stage struck out from Pengarry Junction a short distance west of Toowoomba and continued via Birnan, Cawdor, Shirley, Woolmer, Meringandan and Kleinton to terminate at Cabarlah. It opened on 17 September 1883. Shortly after opening, a daily service was provided to Cabarlah.
The second stage of the line to Crows Nest was opened on 6 December 1886 and stops were located en route at Geham, Mt Luke, Taylor, Hampton and Pechey. The extension serviced sawmills in the Pechey and Perseverance regions with a siding at Hampton station connecting to the Munro Tramway servicing Palmtree, Perseverance and Ravensbourne.
Until about 1930, a daily mixed train departed Crows Nest at 7.00am each morning except Sunday for the 31⁄2-hour trip to Toowoomba. A rail motor service then took over which cut the travel time to a little over 11⁄2 hours. The branch was relegated to goods trains only during the mid-1950s and closed completely on 1 July 1961.
The Shire of Crows Nest was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, immediately northeast of the regional city of Toowoomba. The shire, administered from the town of Crows Nest, covered an area of 1,629.9 square kilometres (629.3 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1913 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Toowoomba area to form the Toowoomba Region. Its growth in later years has been fuelled by the expansion of Toowoomba, particularly the suburbs of Highfields and Blue Mountain Heights which, with a combined population of 7,333 in 2006, were home to over half the shire's population.
Crows Nest is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The town is located in the Darling Downs on the New England Highway, 158 kilometres (98 mi) from the state capital, Brisbane and 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the nearby city of Toowoomba. In the 2016 census, Crows Nest had a population of 2160 people.
Hampton is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Hampton had a population of 356 people.
The Cooyar railway line was a branch line in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The small town of Cooyar is about halfway to Kingaroy in the South Burnett Region. A plan to connect Kingaroy to the south via Cooyar did not eventuate and left Cooyar at the terminus of a branch line running from Oakey west of Toowoomba. It was opened on 28 April 1913 after previous stages to Kulpi and Peranga opened on 29 April 1912 and 4 November 1912 respectively. The line was partially closed beyond Acland on 1 May 1964, with the last segment closed on 8 December 1969.
The Millmerran railway line is a 71 kilometre long branch railway in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia.
The Killarney railway line was a branch railway in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. It travelled from Warwick to Killarney and operated from 1884 to 1964.
The Maryvale railway line was a branch railway in the Southern Downs region of Queensland, Australia.
The Southern railway line serves the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The 197-kilometre (122 mi) long line branches from the Western line at Toowoomba, 161 kilometres (100 mi) west of Brisbane, and proceeds south through Warwick and Stanthorpe to the New South Wales/Queensland state border at Wallangarra.
Cabarlah is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census the locality of Cabarlah had a population of 1,075 people.
Queensland's railway construction commenced in 1864, with the turning of the first sod of the Main Line by Lady Diamantina Bowen, the wife of Queensland's first governor Sir George Bowen at Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. A narrow gauge of 3 ft 6 in was selected due to cost savings in providing a rail link to Toowoomba. Despite being built with bridges wide enough for standard gauge, and the fact that most other lines did not require heavy earthworks, the gauge remained the Queensland system norm.
The Mungar Junction to Monto railway line is a 267 kilometre railway in Queensland, Australia. Progressively opened in eleven stages between 1889 and 1928 the line branched from the North Coast line at Mungar Junction a short distance west of Maryborough and followed a westerly route towards Biggenden and Gayndah before turning north via Mundubbera and Eidsvold to Monto. It is also known as the Gayndah Monto Branch Railway.
The Wandoan Branch is a 70 km railway line in the Darling Downs region Queensland, Australia. It links the towns of Miles and Wandoan. It was approved to extend to Taroom, but construction halted during World War I and never recommenced.
The Great Northern Railway is a 1,067 mm railway line in Queensland, Australia. The line stretches nearly 1,000 kilometres linking the port city of Townsville, Australia to the mining town of Mount Isa in north-west Queensland. Along with a passenger service called the Inlander, it is a major freight route connecting the Mount Isa Mines to the Port of Townsville. In 2010 the line moved 5.8 million tonnes of cargo, and this is expected to increase significantly in coming years.
Pechey is a rural locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Pechey had a population of 105 people.
The Western railway line is a narrow gauge railway, connecting the south-east and south-west regions of Queensland, Australia. It commences at Toowoomba, at the end of the Main Line railway from Brisbane, and extends west 810 km to Cunnamulla, passing through the major towns of Dalby, Roma and Charleville, although services on the 184 km section from Westgate to Cunnamulla have been suspended since 2011. The Queensland Government was the first railway operator in the world to adopt narrow gauge for a main line, and this remains the system-wide gauge.
The Main Line is a railway line in South East Queensland, Australia. It was opened in a series of sections between 1865 and 1867. It commences at Roma St Station in Brisbane and extends west 161 km to Toowoomba. It is the first narrow gauge main line constructed in the world. The section of the line from the end of Murphys Creek railway station to the Ruthven Street overbridge, Harlaxton is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. The Murphys Creek Railway Complex, the Lockyer Creek Railway Bridge (Lockyer), the Lockyer Creek Railway Bridge and Swansons Rail Bridge are also heritage listed.
Crows Nest Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 19 Curnow Street, Crows Nest, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1911. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 27 June 2003.
Ravensbourne is a rural locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Ravensbourne had a population of 248 people.
The Munro Tramway was a private tramway established in the late 1890s and early 1900s to cart timber and other freight from Perseverance and Ravensbourne to Hampton in Queensland, Australia. The tramway was originally serviced by teams of horses until the early 1900s when the first of two Shay locomotives began servicing the line. This was the first tramway in Queensland to use a steam locomotive to haul timber and continued to operate until 1936.
The roads that join the towns of Dalby, Toowoomba and Cooyar form a triangle that encloses some of the most fertile land on the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia. These roads are the Warrego Highway, New England Highway and Dalby–Cooyar Road. Pechey–Maclagan Road forms a large part of a group of roads that bisect the triangle from east to west, and is also part of one of the groups of roads that bisect from south to north.