Greenvale railway line
Greenvale railway line is in northern Queensland, Australia. It carries nickel ore from a mine in Greenvale to the Queensland Nickel's refinery in Yabulu, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Townsville.[1]
History
Construction commenced in 1972 of a branch line from the North Coast railway line at Cobarra, north of Townsville.[2] It was 225 kilometres (140 mi) long. It featured 3 tunnels through the Hervey Range. IIt was opened in 1974 and operated until 1993 when the mine ran out of ore.[1] Ore was then shipped from New Caledonia to the of Townsville and railed from there to Yabulu until the refinery closed in 2016.
Proposals were made to try to retain part of the line as a tourist route but nothing came of it. In mid-2000 the railway tracks were removed but other infrastructure such as tunnels and easements remain. The track has been for walking, mountain biking and four-wheel-driving and there have been proposals to formalise this use, but collapses of tunnels along the route have raised safety issues.[3]
Route
The route from the mine to the refinery was:[4]
Coord | Place |
---|---|
18.97312°S 144.94423°E | Greenvale mine loop |
18.9739°S 144.9449°E | Greenvale railway station |
18.9789°S 144.9975°E | Miners Lake railway station |
19.0802°S 145.1866°E | Pilkara railway station |
19.1896°S 145.4082°E | Malan railway station |
19.24667°S 145.63859°E | Greenvale / Basalt border |
19.2354°S 145.6572°E | Tulay railway station |
19.23668°S 145.79037°E | Basalt / Paluma border |
19.3196°S 145.9668°E | Girrinjah railway station |
19.32768°S 145.97419°E | Paluma / Dotswood border |
19.4427°S 146.3168°E | Keelbottom railway station |
19.43317°S 146.37223°E | Dotswood / Hervey Range border |
19.3639°S 146.4362°E | Kadara railway station |
19.35553°S 146.45518°E | Hervey Range / Lynam border |
19.26299°S 146.55833°E | Lynam / Black River border |
19.23739°S 146.58382°E | Black River / Yabulu border |
19.20997°S 146.59785°E | Yabulu refinery loop |
References
- "Our History". Queensland Nickel. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- "Hervey Range". Charters Towers Regional Council. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- "Hervey Range Train Tunnels (Greenvale Railway Line)". Wanderstories. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- "Railway stations and sidings - Queensland". Queensland Open Data. Queensland Government. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.