Etheridge railway line
The Etheridge Railway line, which branches off the Mareeba-to-Chillagoe railway at Almaden and heads south for to Forsayth via Mount Surprise and Einasleigh, was built between 1907 and 1910 by the Chillagoe Railway and Mining Company as a private railway line. The same company constructed the railway line from Mareeba to Chillagoe and Mungana between 1898 and 1901. The Etheridge line was built cheaply, with lighter rails and fewer earthworks than the Chillagoe line, to supply ore to the Chillagoe Company's under-utilised Chillagoe smelters. The Chillagoe Company was part of the business empire of John Moffat, and between 1880 and 1914 much of the economic activity of North Queensland was driven by the railways and mining towns created by Moffat's enterprises. The remaining built infrastructure at stations along the Etheridge Railway provides examples of the type of buildings erected by the Chillagoe Company for its railway network.
Forth Bridge approach railways
Striking south east was the new Edinburgh main line, which joined in to the Edinburgh and Glasgow line at Corstorphine; the junction was later named Saughton Junction. The line was six miles long. The other new main line ran south-west in a long curve to join the Edinburgh and Glasgow line in the direction of Falkirk and Glasgow line at Winchburgh; this line was four miles in length. The North British Railway came very late to the realisation that these lines were necessary; it was only in December 1887 the Company deposited plans for the two new lines.