Pioneer Valley railway line

The Mackay Railway was a 68 km line situated in the Pioneer River valley in North Queensland, Australia. It opened in a series of sections between 1885 and 1911. 3 short branches junctioned from it, parts of which were initially built by the local government. It closed in sections between 1959 and circa 2007.

Mackay, about 1000 km north of Brisbane, is situated at the entrance of a fertile river valley, and was quickly developed for agriculture, especially sugar cane. Sugar mills had been constructed with private cane tramways, meaning each mill had a local monopoly.

The Mackay railway was built to allow growers to ship their sugar cane to alternative buyers, ending the mill monopolies.

The first section opened from Mackay to Eton, the only other town in the region at the time, together with a branch from Newbury Junction to Mirani, 36 km in total, in 1885. The "branch line" from Mirani was extended 16 km west to Pinnacle between 1897-1902, and traffic grew to the point where it became regarded as the main line, and Eton as the branch line. The Queensland Government built two sugar mills as part of the development, and in due course most mills became cooperatively owned.

Keen to facilitate further development, the Pioneer Shire Council funded the construction of a 9 km extension to Finch Hatton, opened in 1904. It also funded a 12 km branch from Benholme to Kirkup, opened 1903.

Walter Paget, the MLA for Mackay, became the Minister for Railways in 1908, and the Council lines were purchased by the Queensland Railways Department to enable further extensions. The 10 km Finch Hatton - Netherdale extension (to the base of the Eungella Range) opened in 1911, as did the 2 km Kirkup - Kungurri extension.

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