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.
Quartz Hill Coach Change Station
However, changes in transportation were threatening the existence of the Change Station at Quartz Hill. In 1900 John Moffat of the Chillagoe Railway and Mining Company acquired an interest in the Einasleigh Copper Mine, which was to prove the premier base metal producer on the Etheridge. By 1901 the copper matte was being transported by camel to Almaden via Quartz Hill. Gold from the Etheridge gold field was also transported in this manner through Quartz Hill. This mode of transportation proved unsatisfactory and by 1902 the construction of a railway line was suggested between Georgetown and Almaden to join with the Chillagoe Railway. The potential route passed through Quartz Creek, but instead the Etheridge railway line was constructed further south, through Mount Surprise and Einasleigh, terminating at Forsayth (previously Charleston). The railhead reached Mount Surprise from Almaden in 1908, and opened at Forsayth in January 1910.