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.
Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway
The Bury St Edmunds and Thetford Railway (B&TR) built the Thetford to Bury St Edmunds line from Thetford to Bury St Edmunds with assistance from the Thetford and Watton Railway. The railway was authorised on 5 July 1873 and opened on 1 March 1876. Services were operated by the Thetford and Watton Railway until it was taken over by the Great Eastern Railway on 22 July 1878. The line was long with the journey taking just under 30 minutes.