Dajarra and Selwyn Branch Railways were lines in north-west Queensland, Australia. Along with the Mount Cuthbert and Dobbyn Branch Railways, they were essentially built to tap large deposits of copper discovered in the Cloncurry region.
The Dajarra branch ran from Malbon in a south-westerly direction to the small town of Dajarra. Its construction served two purposes. It would immediately provide access to additional copper deposits, and later could contribute to the grand plan to link Sydney and Darwin by inland rail and also be linked to partially built branch lines from Brisbane, Rockhampton and Townsville on Queensland's east coast. From 1911, some 100 kilometres of the line was surveyed from Malbon to Sulieman's Creek near Dajarra where it would connect to the proposed inland route.
In 1923 vast silver and lead deposits were discovered at Mount Isa 150 kilometres by road to the north of Dajarra. More business followed in 1929 when Duchess was connected by rail to Mount Isa. So far as Dajarra was concerned, a weekly mixed train plied the route from Cloncurry and Dajarra gradually became one of the world's largest railheads for cattle transported to eastern meatworks.
Supplies from Ballara quickly dwindled and the Trekelano spur lasted until 1943. Competing road transport eventually captured the cattle market and Dajarra railway station (21°41′47″S139°30′50″E / 21.6965°S 139.5139°E / -21.6965; 139.5139 (Dajarra railway station))[16] closed (the last train departed Dajarra in 1988) when the line from Duchess closed on 1 January 1994.[7] The grand plan of the inland rail link did not eventuate. However, in recent years a plan has been floated to link Queensland with the Northern Territory via Mount Isa and Camooweal in Queensland to the Adelaide-Darwin railway route in the Northern Territory.
Referencesedit
"Triumph of Narrow Gauge: A History of Queensland Railways" by John Kerr 1990 Boolarong Press, Brisbane.
^"Cloncurry – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 7471)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Malbon – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 20693)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Dolomite – railway station in Shire of Cloncurry (entry 10280)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Marimo – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 20993)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Mitakoodi – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 22359)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Marraba – unbounded locality in Shire of Cloncurry (entry 21076)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Kuridala (entry 44673)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
^"Selwyn (entry 30388)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
^"Kundora – unbounded locality in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 39280)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Devoncourt – unbounded locality in the Cloncurry Shire (entry 9838)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Wammutta – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 36409)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Dronfield – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 10557)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Bungalien – railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 5244)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Duchess" (Map). Queensland Government. 1943. from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
^"Dajarra – population centre in the Shire of Cloncurry (entry 9202)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
External linksedit
"Duchess" (Map). Queensland Government. 1943. — shows the Dajarra and Selwyn railway lines and the railway stations
1925 map of the Queensland railway system
April 10, 2024
dajarra, selwyn, railway, lines, coordinates, using, openstreetmap, download, coordinates, coordinates, primary, coordinates, secondary, coordinates, dajarra, selwyn, branch, railways, were, lines, north, west, queensland, australia, along, with, mount, cuthbe. Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap Download coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates Dajarra and Selwyn Branch Railways were lines in north west Queensland Australia Along with the Mount Cuthbert and Dobbyn Branch Railways they were essentially built to tap large deposits of copper discovered in the Cloncurry region Dajarra and Selwyn railway linesTechnicalTrack gauge3 ft 6 in 1 067 mm History editConstruction of the Selwyn Branch began in 1909 The line ran about 50 kilometres south from Cloncurry railway station 20 42 51 S 140 31 03 E 20 7143 S 140 5174 E 20 7143 140 5174 Cloncurry railway station 1 to Malbon railway station 21 04 20 S 140 18 01 E 21 0722 S 140 3002 E 21 0722 140 3002 Malbon railway station 2 with sidings built enroute at Dolomite 20 45 18 S 140 26 29 E 20 7550 S 140 4414 E 20 7550 140 4414 Dolomite railway station 3 Marimo 20 48 31 S 140 24 48 E 20 8085 S 140 4134 E 20 8085 140 4134 Marimo railway station 4 Mitakoodi 20 56 30 S 140 18 30 E 20 9417 S 140 3083 E 20 9417 140 3083 Mitakoodi railway station 5 and Marraba 20 59 12 S 140 17 59 E 20 9868 S 140 2998 E 20 9868 140 2998 Marraba railway station 6 7 From there it continued south to the Hampden mine and opened on 11 June 1910 The fledgling township was first named Gulatten then Hampden then for a brief time Friezland before finally being renamed in 1916 as Kuridala an Aboriginal word indicating eagle hawk 8 An extension further south to the Mount Elliott mine at Selwyn opened on 15 December 1910 along with the Selwyn Range named after Alfred Selwyn Director of the Geological Survey of Victoria 9 Smelted copper was railed east and coking coal on return journeys Cattle and coke also exchanged trips Falling copper prices forced the closure of the Mount Elliott and Hampden smelters in 1919 and 1920 respectively The branch continued to operate at a slow pace until it was closed in 1961 Road transport no doubt squeezed out the cattle market The Dajarra branch ran from Malbon in a south westerly direction to the small town of Dajarra Its construction served two purposes It would immediately provide access to additional copper deposits and later could contribute to the grand plan to link Sydney and Darwin by inland rail and also be linked to partially built branch lines from Brisbane Rockhampton and Townsville on Queensland s east coast From 1911 some 100 kilometres of the line was surveyed from Malbon to Sulieman s Creek near Dajarra where it would connect to the proposed inland route Construction of a 58 kilometre section to the Duchess copper mine began in 1911 Copper was discovered there in 1897 and the Queensland Railways Department adopted Duchess as the station name Tiny sidings enroute included Kundora 21 07 04 S 140 15 05 E 21 1178 S 140 2515 E 21 1178 140 2515 Kundora railway station 10 Devoncourt formerly Macgregor Junction 21 08 22 S 140 12 27 E 21 1394 S 140 2075 E 21 1394 140 2075 Devoncourt railway station 11 Wammutta 21 10 32 S 140 08 46 E 21 1756 S 140 1461 E 21 1756 140 1461 Wammutta railway station 12 Dronfield 21 13 29 S 140 02 31 E 21 2247 S 140 0419 E 21 2247 140 0419 Dronfield railway station 13 and Bungalien 21 18 02 S 139 58 52 E 21 3006 S 139 9811 E 21 3006 139 9811 Bungalien railway station 14 15 7 Even though ore was hauled earlier in the year the line officially opened on 21 October 1912 A short 20 kilometre extension took the line via Juenburra and Woobera to Wills River possibly named after the explorer William John Wills and on 18 December 1915 it opened to nearby Butru an Aboriginal word indicating waterhole where the line crossed Wills River The balance of the line opened on 16 April 1917 to Carbine Creek renamed Dajarra reportedly an Aboriginal word indicating isolated mountain nearby Although substantial construction work began beyond Dajarra towards Camooweal it was never completed Traffic on the line between Malbon and Duchess was particularly brisk as it included ore shipped via a private railway from Devoncourt north to Ballara and via a spur line from Juenburra near Duchess south to Trekelano In 1923 vast silver and lead deposits were discovered at Mount Isa 150 kilometres by road to the north of Dajarra More business followed in 1929 when Duchess was connected by rail to Mount Isa So far as Dajarra was concerned a weekly mixed train plied the route from Cloncurry and Dajarra gradually became one of the world s largest railheads for cattle transported to eastern meatworks Supplies from Ballara quickly dwindled and the Trekelano spur lasted until 1943 Competing road transport eventually captured the cattle market and Dajarra railway station 21 41 47 S 139 30 50 E 21 6965 S 139 5139 E 21 6965 139 5139 Dajarra railway station 16 closed the last train departed Dajarra in 1988 when the line from Duchess closed on 1 January 1994 7 The grand plan of the inland rail link did not eventuate However in recent years a plan has been floated to link Queensland with the Northern Territory via Mount Isa and Camooweal in Queensland to the Adelaide Darwin railway route in the Northern Territory References edit Triumph of Narrow Gauge A History of Queensland Railways by John Kerr 1990 Boolarong Press Brisbane Cloncurry railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 7471 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Malbon railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 20693 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Dolomite railway station in Shire of Cloncurry entry 10280 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Marimo railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 20993 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Mitakoodi railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 22359 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Marraba unbounded locality in Shire of Cloncurry entry 21076 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 a b c Queensland Globe State of Queensland Retrieved 10 September 2020 Kuridala entry 44673 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 4 September 2015 Selwyn entry 30388 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 4 September 2015 Kundora unbounded locality in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 39280 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Devoncourt unbounded locality in the Cloncurry Shire entry 9838 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Wammutta railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 36409 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Dronfield railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 10557 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Bungalien railway station in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 5244 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 Duchess Map Queensland Government 1943 Archived from the original on 10 September 2020 Retrieved 11 September 2020 Dajarra population centre in the Shire of Cloncurry entry 9202 Queensland Place Names Queensland Government Retrieved 11 September 2020 External links edit Duchess Map Queensland Government 1943 shows the Dajarra and Selwyn railway lines and the railway stations 1925 map of the Queensland railway system Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dajarra and Selwyn railway lines amp oldid 1177310143, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
