Canungra railway line

Canungra railway line
Canungra station, ca. 1918
Overview
StatusClosed
OwnerQueensland Rail
LocaleSouth East Queensland
Termini
Continues fromBeaudesert line
Service
Operator(s)Queensland Rail
History
Opened2 July 1915
Closed1 June 1955
Technical
Line length33.1 km (20.6 mi)
Track gauge1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Route map

Canungra line

miles from South Brisbane

27
Logan Village
34
Plunkett
36
Tamborine
39
Bromfleet
41
Boyland
44
Wonglepong
46
Benobble
48
Canungra

The Canungra railway line was a branch railway in South East Queensland, Australia. It connected Logan Village on the Beaudesert line and Canungra.

Canungra was the centre of regional timber production from the 1860s with a large sawmill completed in 1885. The private Laheys Tramway, carrying timber from nearby forests to Canungra, opened in 1900. By 1911 there were 18 bullock teams moving sawn timber between Canungra and the railway at Logan Village.[1]

A railway from Logan Village to Canungra was first proposed in 1900 with a survey commissioned in 1908.[2][3] In 1911 the Queensland Government decided to construct the Canungra branch line from Logan Village railway station on the Beaudesert line to Canungra.[4] Construction began in 1913 and the line opened to Canungra on 2 July 1915.[5][6][7]

Timber traffic started to decline from 1923 and most of the timber in the area had been cut by the 1940s.[8] There was substantial traffic on the line during the Pacific War after the Jungle Warfare Training Centre opened at Canungra in November 1942. Traffic declined after World War II, and the line closed on 1 July 1955.[6][7][9]

  1. ^ John Kerr (1998). Forest Industry Heritage Places Study: Sawmills and Tramways, South Eastern Queensland. Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. p. 226.
  2. ^ "The Brisbane Courier. Friday August 10, 1900". Brisbane Courier. 10 August 1900.
  3. ^ "Proposed Canungra Railway". Brisbane Courier. 11 June 1908.
  4. ^ "SKETCHER". The Queenslander. Queensland, Australia. 25 November 1911. p. 15. Retrieved 2 April 2020 – via Trove.
  5. ^ Kerr, John (1990). Triumph of narrow gauge : a history of Queensland Railways. Boolarong Publications. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-86439-102-5.
  6. ^ a b "The Canungra Branch" Australian Railway History January 1993 pp12-19
  7. ^ a b Quinlan, Howard; Newland, John (2000). Australian Railway Routes 1854 - 2000. Redfern: Australian Railway Historical Society. p. 38. ISBN 0909650497.
  8. ^ Heritage Trails of the Great South East. Queensland Environmental Protection Agency. 2000. p. 16. ISBN 0-7345-1008-X.
  9. ^ "6 State Branch Railway lines To Be Closed". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. LXXV. Queensland, Australia. 15 January 1955. p. 1. Retrieved 8 June 2024 – via National Library of Australia.