| Dugandan railway line | |
| Other Name: | Fassifern railway line Churchill branch railway |
| Image Alt: | railway station and train |
| Locale: | Queensland, Australia |
| Open: | 1882 |
| Close: | 1964 |
| Linelength: | 35chain28chain |
| Map Name: | route diagram |
| Map State: | collapsed |
The Dugandan railway line was a branch railway in the Scenic Rim region of South East Queensland, Australia. It was also known as the Fassifern railway line. It operated from 1882 to 1964.[1]
The line began west of Ipswich station on the Main Line 39 km west of Brisbane and proceeded generally southward for approximately 50 km to the locality of Dugandan now part of the urban settlement of Boonah.
Residents in the Fassifern Valley petitioned the Queensland Government to build a railway line to their district, and the first section was opened on 10 July 1882 as far as Harrisville. This is considered to be Queensland's first branch railway. The branch was extended to Dugandan on 12 September 1887.[2]
The Mount Edwards branch line branched off the Dugandan line at Munbilla. The Mount Edwards line opened to Kalbar on 17 April 1916 and to Mount Edwards on 7 October 1922. The Mount Edwards line closed in 1960.[3] [4]
During its life, the Dugandan branch carried mixed traffic, including goods trains, mixed trains and rail motors.[2]
The Dugandan branch was closed beyond the Churchill railway station on 30 June 1964 due to increasing competition from road transport.[2] The small remaining section was known as the Churchill branch railway.[5]
| 24miles from Brisbane, 0miles from Ipswich | Ipswich railway station | -27.6131°N 152.7606°W | [6] | ||
| Fassifern Junction where the Dugandan line splits from the Main Line railway | |||||
| 1 km from Ipswich | Shillito & Sons siding | ||||
| 1 km from Ipswich | Spanns siding | ||||
| 25miles from Brisbane | Little Ipswich railway station | -27.6216°N 152.7504°W | [7] [8] | ||
| 2 km from Ipswich | Noble Vale No 6. Colliery siding | ||||
| 3 km from Ipswich | Cattle siding | ||||
| 26miles from Brisbane | Churchill railway station | -27.6356°N 152.7486°W | [9] [10] | ||
| 29miles from Brisbane | Loamside railway station | -27.6711°N 152.7364°W | |||
| 13miles from Brisbane | Hampstead railway station | -27.6936°N 152.7385°W | |||
| 32miles from Brisbane | Purga railway station | -27.7101°N 152.7386°W | |||
| 34miles from Brisbane | Goolman railway station | -27.7365°N 152.7416°W | |||
| 34miles from Brisbane, 10mile from Ipswich | Hillside railway station | ||||
| 11mile from Ipswich | Rockton railway station | ||||
| 12mile from Ipswich | Peak Crossing railway station | ||||
| 13mile from Ipswich | Flinders railway station | ||||
| 15mile from Ipswich | Churchbank railway station | [11] | |||
| 18mile from Ipswich | Harrisville railway station | ||||
| 20mile from Ipswich | Wilsons Plains railway station | ||||
| 22mile from Ipswich | Radford railway station | ||||
| 23mile from Ipswich | Munbilla railway station | ||||
| Junction with Mount Edwards railway line | |||||
| 25mile from Ipswich | Anthony railway station | [12] | |||
| 27mile from Ipswich | Blantyre railway station | ||||
| 28mile from Ipswich | Roadvale railway station | ||||
| 29mile from Ipswich | Kulgun railway station | ||||
| 30mile from Ipswich | Teviotville railway station | ||||
| 32mile from Ipswich | Hoya railway station | ||||
| 34mile from Ipswich | Boonah railway station | ||||
| 35mile from Ipswich | Dugandan railway station | [13] [14] |
There is a memorial to the railway line in Yeates Street, Boonah at the back of the Commercial Hotel . The memorial is on the site of the former Boonah railway station.
Some evidence of the line's existence remains today. An embankment which carried the railway over a floodplain immediately north of Boonah is still readily visible from the Boonah-Fassifern Road. The station building at Harrisville is still intact, as is a small cutting immediately south of Harrisville station. Part of the alignment between Boonah and Dugandan along a cut-and-fill embankment is now a paved footpath through an urban park.
As of 2009, the Scenic Rim Region is developing a rail trail in partnership with the Queensland state government. The trail for the use of bushwalkers, cyclists and horse riders will follow some of the former alignment between Ipswich and Boonah.[15]
