A lot more digging has managed to turn up the names of the Tarong and Nanango Branches which ran out from Kingaroy and these are now shown on the full map (which is now specific to this group or system of lines, rather than being for the whole of Queensland). This is different from the way I have done the NSW line series, the important difference being that features are marked for the Kingaroy branch which is not common with the NSW lines.
Once again I note the different standards which apply for the international maps, compared to NZ. For the most part the lines are using a different colour that is not used in NZ (brown), this implies that the line status is unknown. Features where marked are generally unnamed (they will say “bridge” or “station” but not its name).
However some familiar colours have been used in these maps: aqua for a line that is clearly closed (bridges missing) and green for lines where the route is not completely certain. Thus the Proston line is shown in aqua and the Windera, Tarong and Nanango branches are shown in green (due to it being difficult to be exactly sure of the routes).
It appears the Kingaroy line is to be converted to a rail trail although this is not confirmed at the time of writing.
Here is the full map.View Larger Map
Here in detail are some features of the lines.
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Theebine Junction with the main line to the right and the branch heading away to the left. As you can see the junction was arranged to give access from both directions. The means by which this is done is pretty unusual (half a balloon loop instead of a wye) and I can only assume the first leg added did not leave room for the second wye leg later. A green line shows a suggested ballast siding location given there is a pit nearby and apparently some formation work remaining.
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I don’t know how prevalent combined bridges were in Australia but there aren’t many left today, especially ones that are still used for both modes. The Dickabram bridge is supposed to be pretty weak by rail standards today (assuming it would need major strengthening repairs) but it has been brought up to scratch for road traffic in the last couple of years. It is a mixture of wood and steel and has the rail and one lane of road in parallel on the same deck; there has never been an exact equivalent in NZ.
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| Near Nondiga is this substantial truss bridge of over 100 metres length. | Just past Oakview is this location which appears to be a small siding (shown green). |
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| This looks like another truss bridge just past Mouingba. | Kilikivan had a wye and nearby one of the few overbridges on the entire line. |
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| Murgon was the junction of the line to Proston. |
In more recent times the line to Proston was cut back to Byee, where there is also the presumed junction of the line to Windera. At the time of publication several rakes of hopper wagons were visible on the Byee line in Google Earth. These have since been removed as part of the process of closing the lines.
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This is presumed to be roughly where the terminus was at Windera. It was a fairly short line (19 km) serving a miniscule population and probably was open less than 40 years.
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Proston on the other hand had a few towns along the way including the terminus. The line was roughly 30 km long past Byee.
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Just out of Murgon back on the Kingaroy line is this 150 metre bridge (looks like a truss) – probably the second longest after Dickabram.
| The terminus has a wye and two other branches disappearing out of the bottom of this view. |
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| Another wye at the terminus at Tarong. | Possibly Tarong also had a siding near the terminus (ballast?) |
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This curve on the Nanango line is one of the more difficult parts to determine exactly and an alternate route is shown.
| The Nanango terminus, which at a guess has been built over hence the lack of clues. |
