The South Coast Railway
Between Coach and Motor Car
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1321816600001690Keywords:
Queensland rail service, coastal strip tourism, produce transportationAbstract
In the late nineteenth century, railway mania overtook Queensland, with every community seeking to replace the coach or horse-and-buggy with the train. The demand for a rail service was especially strong in the south-east corner of the Colony for two main reasons: firstly, the coastal strip was rapidly gaining popularity as a holiday resort, and a faster, more comfortable means of travel was needed to replace the journey by coach; and secondly, the hinterland river flats and lower valleys of the McPherson Range were proving to be very productive agricultural and dairying districts, and farmers needed the railway to transport their produce to city markets.
References
Gold Coast Bulletin 1985, Gold Coast Bulletin Centenary Feature.
Holthouse, Hector 1982, Illustrated History of the Gold Coast, A.H. and W.Read Pty. Ltd., NSW.
Johnstone, W Ross 1982, The Call of the Land: A History of Queensland to the Present Day, Jacaranda Press, Qld.
Keane, Eve 1958, Gold Coast: The Story of the Gold Coast of Queensland and the Hinterland, Oswald Ziegler Publications, Sydney, NSW.
Longhurst, Robert 1991, The Heart of Paradise: The History of Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast City Council, Qld.
Gold Coast Bulletin records
Gold Coast Historical Society
John Oxley Library (Courier Mail back copies)
Nerang Shire Council archives
Mudgeeraba Historical Society
