Oakey-Cooyar railway line
| Cooyar railway line | |
|---|---|
| Overview | |
| Status | Dismantled |
| Termini |
Oakey, Queensland Cooyar, Queensland |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 28 May 1923 |
| Closed | 1961 |
| Operator(s) | Queensland Rail |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 63 km (39 mi) |
| Track gauge | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) |
The Cooyar railway line was a branch line in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The small town of Cooyar is about halfway to Kingaroy in the South Burnett region. A plan to connect Kingaroy to the south via Cooyar did not eventuate and left Cooyar at the terminus of a branch line running from Oakey west of Toowoomba. It was opened on 28 April 1913 after previous stages to Kulpi and Peranga opened on 29 April 1912 and 4 November 1912 respectively. The line was partially closed beyond Acland on 1 May 1964, with the last segment closed on 8 December 1969.
Mixed trains initially ran four times a week and were replaced in 1929 by a daily rail motor service to Toowoomba. The line connected the small towns of Acland, Kulpi, Peranga, Narko, Nutgrove, Wutul and Cooyar to the Queensland Rail western line at Oakey until 1964. This provided passenger and farm produce services not only to these towns but also to the surrounding townships of Quinalow, Maclagan and Evergreen.
Coal was transported between Acland and Oakey, this portion of the branch line remained in service until 1969. A similar parallel branch line existed connected Haden to the Western Line at Kingsthorpe from 1910 to 1964. As the competing service of bullock carts gave way to motor vehicles rail patronage declined resulting in both services becoming uneconomical to maintain.
With negligible track remaining the Oakey-Cooyar branch line could all but be overlooked as a fading scar on the landscape, it retains its significance however through the still intact Muntapa Tunnel. A feat of early Queensland Railways engineering achievement, the Muntapa Tunnel remains the only tunnel in Queensland to pass under the summit of Eastern Australia's Great Dividing Range. This tunnel was constructed with manual labour. It is now home to a colony of bats.
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