Dawson Valley Branch Railway

The Dawson Valley Branch Railway was a railway line in Central Queensland, Australia. It opened in a series of sections between 1898 and 1927, and featured a rack railway section, one of only 3 such systems in Australia.

Gold was discovered in the Mount Morgan region of Central Queensland in 1882. The Mount Morgan Gold Mining Company was authorised by government in 1890 to build a railway link to Rockhampton but it did not proceed.

Revised plans were approved by parliament in December 1896 for a government built line. The 1890 proposal had involved a conventional line with 1 in 50 (2%) grades and a tunnel at the crest of the Razorback Range. Its cost and the risk of the mine having a short life deterred both the government and the company. By adopting a rack railway section the cost of building the line was 52% of the 1890 proposal.

The branch line commenced at Kabra about 15 kilometres west of Rockhampton on the Central West line and headed south towards Mount Morgan. The first stage opened on 15 June 1898 and reached Moonmera at the foot of a steep climb to Mount Morgan. A siding was located en route at Boongary.

The next stage to Moongan was a 2315-metre Abt rack system to negotiate grades as steep as 1 in 16.5 (6%). The rack system consisted of 2 parallel toothed vertical bars fixed between the rails which connected with specially built locomotives. The rack locomotive pushed from the rear of the train during ascent to prevent runaways if a coupling broke, and the front during descent, as the rack provided part of the braking force. Kirkhall, Baree and Walterhall (which was the junction for the branch to the mine itself) were sidings above the rack section. The line to Mount Morgan railway station opened on 26 November 1898.

After opening, three mixed trains ran daily to and from Rockhampton. Two trains ran each way on Sundays thus enabling visitors to conveniently travel the short distance between Mount Morgan and Rockhampton. Despite the high cost of operating the rack section, the line proved very profitable due to the volume of traffic created by, and for the mine. 'Suburban' services ran from Moongan – Mt Morgan and return to cater for mine workers.

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