www.monumentaustralia.org.au

Amiens Branch LinePrint Page Print this page

17-January-2015
17-January-2015

Photographs supplied by John Huth

The plaque commemorates the Amiens railway branch line which went from Cottonvale to the Amiens soldier settlement area. It was opened in 1920 by Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales.

The Amiens railway line was a branch railway in the Granite Belt region of Queensland, Australia, branching from the Southern Line at Cottonvale between Warwick and Stanthorpe. The Amiens line was the highest in southern Queensland, with the railway reaching an elevation of 946 metres above sea level at Pozieres. 

Construction of a 20-kilometre railway line west of Cottonvale to the village of Amiens was authorised in 1919 to assist returned soldiers who had been granted land in the region. The Amiens branch was designed to serve an agricultural area developed for the settlement of returned servicemen after the First World War. For this reason, all the stations along the line were named after battlegrounds on the Western Front - Fleurbaix, Pozieres, Bullecourt, Passchendaele, Bapaume and Messines. The line was not built to convey passengers but rather to transport fruit from the soldiers' orchards to markets in Brisbane and Sydney.  Construction commenced in 1919 and the line was opened on 7 June 1920.

Edward, Prince of Wales travelled the length of the Amiens branch in a royal train to officially open the line on 26 July 1920. The line closed on 28 February 1974.

Location

Address:12 High Street, Stanthorpe Heritage Museum, Stanthorpe, 4380
State:Qld
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -28.64551
Long: 151.947079
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Government
Sub-Theme:State
Actual Event Start Date:07-June-1920

Dedication

Front Inscription

Commemorating the Amiens Branch Line to the well known 1914 / 18 Soldier Settlement Area

Opened 1920 by H.R.H. Edward, Prince of Wales

Acquired from Qld Railways, dismantled, removed, painted & re-erected.

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au