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((Short description|Railways lines in Central West Queensland, Australia))((Use Australian English|date=June 2020))
((Use dmy dates|date=August 2019))
((Multiple issues|
((more citations needed|date=April 2015))
((no footnotes|date=September 2015))
))

The '''Blackall and Yaraka Branch Railways''' are railway lines in [[Central West Queensland]], Australia. The former branch connected the small town of [[Jericho, Queensland|Jericho]] on the [[Central Western railway line, Queensland|Central Western railway line]] with [[Blackall, Queensland|Blackall]] and the latter branch connected Blackall to the even smaller town of [[Yaraka, Queensland|Yaraka]]. Blackall was named after Sir [[Samuel Wensley Blackall]] who from 1868 to 1871 was the second [[Governor of Queensland]].

==History==
In the late 1890s it was government policy that Queensland's three major trunk lines should be extended to the south-west in order to link vast remote areas with the coast. Those trunk routes were the [[Western railway line, Queensland|Western line]] which then ran from [[Brisbane]] to [[Charleville, Queensland|Charleville]], the Central Western Line from [[Rockhampton]] to [[Longreach, Queensland|Longreach]] and the [[Great Northern Railway (Mt Isa line)|Great Northern line]] running from [[Townsville]] to [[Hughenden, Queensland|Hughenden]]. The Western line was extended south-west to [[Cunnamulla]] and opened in 1898 whilst in 1917 the Quilpie Line was opened from [[Westgate, Queensland|Westgate]] (south of Charleville) due west to [[Quilpie, Queensland|Quilpie]]. The [[Great Northern Railway (Mt Isa line)|Great Northern line]] was extended south-west to [[Winton, Queensland|Winton]] and opened in 1899.

[[File:Official opening of the Blackall Railway Line, Blackall, Queensland,1908 (8847765220).jpg|thumb|Opening of the Blackall line, 1908]]
Extending the Central line was more problematic. Residents of the [[Jundah, Queensland|Jundah]] and [[Windorah]] regions (along the [[Thomson River (Queensland)|Thomson River]] south-west of Longreach) jostled for a line in their direction to run from [[Dartmouth railway station, Queensland|Dartmouth]], 50&nbsp;kilometres east of Longreach via [[Stonehenge, Queensland (Barcoo Shire)|Stonehenge]] to Jundah and Windorah. Meanwhile, Longreach residents preferred an extension north-east to Winton thus providing a link to the Great Northern Line. An alternative option to the south-west was therefore examined being a line from Barcaldine or Jericho (both further east of Longreach) down to Blackall the oldest town in the region. Although Barcaldine was fractionally closer to Blackall than Jericho, the latter prevailed because most of the land over the Barcaldine route had already been settled. The Blackall Branch was therefore approved in 1905 and had the potential to be further extended south-west to Yaraka, Windorah and beyond. The branch was ((Convert|114|km||abbr=)) long and opened on 31 March 1908. Tiny sidings appeared en route at Joycedale, Lancevale, [[Yalleroi]] and Glenusk.

Because Jericho had no depot, a thrice weekly service ran from nearby [[Alpha, Queensland|Alpha]] east of Jericho. Blackall passengers heading to Rockhampton usually changed trains at Jericho. In 1952, a weekly mixed Rockhampton to Blackall service commenced as did a second weekly service in 1967. The services ended in 1970 when [[The Midlander (Queensland Rail)|The Midlander service]] could be met at Jericho for a more comfortable trip to and from Rockhampton.

By all accounts, the Blackall Branch was reasonably well patronised but traffic inevitably declined when road transport increased. It faced closure in the early 1990s but earned a reprieve after staunch local opposition. The seasonal transport of cattle became its main source of activity but by 2005 the branch and its extension to Yaraka were untenable.

The [[Queensland Parliament]] passed the Great Western Railway Act in 1910. Its purpose was to authorize construction of over ((Convert|2,000|km||abbr=)) of railway in far western Queensland so as to bring all sheep farming activities in the region within reach of a railway and hence eastern markets. The line was to run from Tobermory in the far south-west to [[Camooweal]] in the far north-west. Tobermory lay to the south of Quilpie and [[Eromanga, Queensland|Eromanga]] whilst Camooweal sat to the north-west of [[Mount Isa]] and not far from the [[Northern Territory]] border. The proposed line would also double as a link in a grand plan to link [[Sydney]] by rail with [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]]. Also required were four spur lines to join the existing Queensland system at Charleville, Blackall, Winton and [[Malbon, Queensland|Malbon]] near [[Cloncurry, Queensland|Cloncurry]] on the Great Northern Line.

In the end, the concept of the Great Western Railway was unrealistic and uneconomic. But some construction work was completed including extension of the Blackall Branch to Yaraka (and proposed to reach Windorah). The line opened in four stages – to Malvernton (via Glenstuart siding) on 16 June 1913, to Benlidi shortly after on 1 July 1913, to [[Emmet railway station|Emmet]] (via Mekaree siding) on 16 December 1914 and to Yaraka (via Ungo and Konupa sidings) on 3 April 1917. Roughly 300 kilometres separated Blackall and Windorah, and Yaraka was about halfway.

A twice weekly mixed service plied the Yaraka Branch. It was slow at six hours but worse was a trip between Yaraka and Rockhampton at twenty-six hours although that included a through service between Alpha and Yaraka. The service was later cut back to once per week. As with the Blackall Branch the line faced closure in the early 1990s but earned a reprieve after local opposition. The ‘Yaraka Mixed’ later achieved novelty status as one of the last of its kind but by April 2001 passengers were not permitted aboard and by September 2005 had closed completely. As compensation for the closure, the locals were promised all-weather road upgrades in the region.

As an aside, the Central Western Line was eventually extended from Longreach and opened to Winton in 1928.

==See also==
((Portal|Queensland|Railways))
*[[Construction of Queensland railways]]

== References ==
* ((cite book| title=Triumph of Narrow Gauge: A History of Queensland Railways| first=John| last=Kerr| year=1998| publisher=Boolarong Press))
* ((cite book| title=Queensland Place Names Register| publisher=Department of Natural Resources and Mines))((full citation needed|date=September 2015))


((Railway lines in Queensland))

[[Category:Closed railway lines in Queensland]]
[[Category:Central West Queensland]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1908]]
[[Category:1908 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Railway lines closed in 2005]]
[[Category:2005 disestablishments in Australia]]

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