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.
Etheridge railway line
Around 1917 a lime burning business started at Ootann, south of Almaden, using old kilns used during the construction of the railway, and a siding was installed about 1918. Ootann was the limit of steam operation from 1927 to 1951. It had a shelter shed by 1935, and an overhead gantry for loading lime. The present main line was originally the siding, as the main line was moved to install the gantry. Gelaro at had a crossing loop, levers and a shelter shed by 1969. Bullock Creek at had a siding and railway phone by 1916, and was the site of a permanent fettler's (rail line maintenance worker's) camp by 1932. There was a side loading bank and shelter by 1935, and private cattle yards by 1951. A water tank was present, although this no longer exists. The loading of cattle at Bullock Creek ceased in late 1991.