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 5 tunnels through the Hervey Range. It was opened in 1974 and operated until 1992 when the mine ran out of ore.[1] Ore was then shipped from New Caledonia to the port 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 / -18.97312; 144.94423 (Greenbank mine (railway loop)) Greenvale mine loop
18.9739°S 144.9449°E / -18.9739; 144.9449 (Greenvale railway station) Greenvale railway station
18.9789°S 144.9975°E / -18.9789; 144.9975 (Miners Lake railway station) Miners Lake railway station
19.0802°S 145.1866°E / -19.0802; 145.1866 (Pilkara railway station) Pilkara railway station
19.1896°S 145.4082°E / -19.1896; 145.4082 (Malan railway station) Malan railway station
19.24667°S 145.63859°E / -19.24667; 145.63859 (Greenvale / Basalt border) Greenvale / Basalt border
19.2354°S 145.6572°E / -19.2354; 145.6572 (Tulay railway station) Tulay railway station
19.23668°S 145.79037°E / -19.23668; 145.79037 (Basalt / Paluma border) Basalt / Paluma border
19.3196°S 145.9668°E / -19.3196; 145.9668 (Girrinjah railway station) Girrinjah railway station
19.32768°S 145.97419°E / -19.32768; 145.97419 (Paluma / Dotswood border) Paluma / Dotswood border
19.4427°S 146.3168°E / -19.4427; 146.3168 (Keelbottom railway station) Keelbottom railway station
19.43317°S 146.37223°E / -19.43317; 146.37223 (Dotswood / Hervey Range border) Dotswood / Hervey Range border
19.3639°S 146.4362°E / -19.3639; 146.4362 (Kadara railway station) Kadara railway station
19.35553°S 146.45518°E / -19.35553; 146.45518 (Hervey Range / Lynam border) Hervey Range / Lynam border
19.26299°S 146.55833°E / -19.26299; 146.55833 (Lynam / Black River border) Lynam / Black River border
19.23739°S 146.58382°E / -19.23739; 146.58382 (Black River / Yabulu border) Black River / Yabulu border
19.20997°S 146.59785°E / -19.20997; 146.59785 (Yabulu refinery (railway loop)) Yabulu refinery loop

References
  1. "Our History". Queensland Nickel. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. "Hervey Range". Charters Towers Regional Council. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  3. "Hervey Range Train Tunnels (Greenvale Railway Line)". Wanderstories. 7 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  4. "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.
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