Opening of the railway

The Brisbane Courier 15 June 1875

OPENING OF THE RAILWAY

The first train carrying passengers from the Brisbane terminus started at half-past 6 o'clock yesterday morning, and, in spite of the earliness of the hour, a number of persons had assembled on the platform to witness this historical event. The utmost exertions of a large body of men had only sufficed to make the line fit for travelling, without being able to make a really finished job of it, the ballasting being only laid under the sleepers at considerable distances. The motion was, consequently, greater than will hereafter be the case. Work in ballasting was being continued all day yesterday with noticeable results.

The four departures which took place were unattended with any demonstration, except that numbers of well-dressed people, evidently holiday-making on their own account, thronged the platform and skirted, the adjacent parts of the line to see the trains move off. After 4 o'clock, when the schools and offices were out, the throng was greatly increased from these sources, and a short time before the last down-train arrived the station presented a very animated appearance, a long line of laden ballast-trucks being run slowly into the station, while the navvies on them worked furiously to discharge the stone between and beside the sleepers and rails. The first stopping place after leaving Brisbane is at Milton, where a very rough temporary platform has been provided. A few minutes' longer travel reaches Toowong, where neat little station buildings have been erected.

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