The North Coast railway line enters the locality from the south (Home Hill across the river via the Burdekin Bridge) and exits to the north (Ayr).[3] There are three now-abandoned railway stations on the line within the locality:
All three neighbourhoods take their name from a railway station. The Marali railway station was named on 9 November 1917. Marali is an Aboriginal word meaning tomorrow.[6]
McDesme Provisional School opened on 1905. On 1 January 1909 it became McDesme State School. It closed circa 1964.[9]
The Inkerman Bridge across the Burdekin River to Home Hill officially opened on 8 September 1913.[10] The bridge carried the North Coast railway line. As the nearest road bridge across the river was 37 miles (60 km) upstream, a low-level road bridge was built across the river (19°37′42″S147°24′16″E / 19.6283°S 147.4044°E / -19.6283; 147.4044 (Former road bridge)) in 1929 and was completed in January 1930 and within two weeks was 3 feet (0.91 m) under water due to the river flooding.[11][12][13][14] Due to the frequent flooding of the river, the rail and road bridges were often closed or damaged, leading to the decision to build a single higher-level road-and-rail bridge.[15][16] Due to the lack of rock in the sandy soil to use as foundations, for many years it was not believed possible to build a high-level bridge across the Burdekin River. However, by copying construction techniques used in India for sand-footing bridges, work began on the Burdekin Bridge (also known as the Silver Link) in April 1947 but it was not operational until 27 March 1957. The new bridge was 100 metres (330 ft) upstream of the Inkerman Bridge.[17] The Burdekin Bridge officially opened on 15 June 1957.[18][19] At 1,097 metres (3,599 ft), the Burdekin Bridge is one of the longest multi-span bridges in Australia and the only one in Australia without a firm footing.[20] Some pylons of the Inkerman Bridge are still visible.[21]
In the 2016 census McDesme had a population of 277 people.[1]
^"A Traffic Bridge". The Northern Herald. Vol. L, no. 651. Queensland, Australia. 23 September 1925. p. 35. Retrieved 14 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
^"Home Hill". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
^"New Queensland Bridge". Western Herald. New South Wales, Australia. 19 April 1957. p. 4. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
