Amiens railway line

Amiens 1922, showing the railway station

Amiens railway line
Legend 20km Amiens 17km Messines 15km Bapaume 13km Passchendaele 10km Bullecourt 7km Pozieres 4km Fleurbaix 0km Southern Line from Cottonvale

The Amiens railway line was a branch railway in the Granite Belt region of Queensland, Australia.

Cottonvale on the Southern Line between Warwick and Stanthorpe, acquired its name from one Private E Cotton a local who enlisted in the Australian Air Force. Construction of a 20-kilometre line west of Cottonvale to the village of Amiens was authorised in 1919 to assist returned soldiers who had been granted land in the region. Fruit destined for the Brisbane and Sydney markets was the main purpose of the branch.

The Amiens line was the highest in southern Queensland, with the railway reaching an elevation of 946 metres above sea level at Pozieres.^[1] Construction commenced in 1919 and the line was opened on 7 June 1920.^[1] Edward, Prince of Wales travelled the length of the Amiens branch in a royal train to officially open the line on 26 July 1920.^[2]

The Amiens branch was designed to serve an agricultural area developed for the settlement of returned servicemen after the First World War. For this reason, all the stations along the line were named after battlegrounds on the Western Front - Fleurbaix, Pozieres, Bullecourt, Passchendaele, Bapaume and Messines. The line was not built to convey passengers but rather to transport fruit from the soldiers' orchards to markets.^[1] The line closed on 28 February 1974.^[1]

See also

• Rail transport in Queensland

References

"Toowoomba to Wallangarra" A History of the Line by Greg Hallam 2001

"Triumph of the Narrow Gauge: A History of Queensland Railways" by John Kerr 1990 Boolarong Press, Brisbane

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amiens railway line.

• 1925 map of the Queensland railway system

Railway lines in Queensland   Main lines Main Line Western Line Southern Line South Western Line North Coast Line Central West Line Mt Isa Line Tablelands Line List of approved, never constructed lines   Country branch lines Operational List of Queensland branch line locations Moura Line Blackwater railway system Goonyella Line Newlands railway system (GAP) Glenmorgan Millmerran Wandoan Closed List of Queensland branch line locations Amiens Beaudesert Bell Blackall and Yaraka Boonah Brisbane Valley Bulimba Canungra Biloela Thangool Lawgi Cecil Plains Cooyar Crows Nest Dajarra and Selwyn Gladstone to Monto Goomburra Great Western line proposal Haden Injune Isis Jandowae Kajabbi Killarney Mackay Railway and branches Marburg Maryborough to Monto Maryvale Mt Edwards Mt Perry Mulgowie Nanango Pemberton Proston Redbank-Bundamba Southport Tarong Texas Theodore Urangan Wallaville Windera Winton Wooloongabba   Proposed or under construction Cross River Rail Inland Railway Moreton Bay Rail Link Maroochydore railway line Surat Basin railway   Tourist & heritage railways Gulflander Kuranda Scenic Railway Savannahlander Southern Downs Steam Railway Mary Valley Heritage Railway