WE were provided with an interesting photo from the past recently as a reader raised the historical significance of the photo of the former rail motor that took passengers from Bowen to Townsville and return on a Monday to Friday basis on what was its final daily run.
The service was popular at a time when transport was not as modern as it is today and it transported students to outside schools while mothers and grandparents took the opportunity to take their offspring on daily outings to the big city—you could leave Home Hill around 8am and return around 4pm.
While similar rail motors as the one pictured still operate in northern and western areas of the state, there is no such service along the coast any more—although there have been suggestions in recent times for rail services to take passengers from Mackay to Townsville for major events such as Cowboys’ games—but it seems it is much easier for the state government to find billions for rail services in Brisbane than it is to provide services in the north where people could have a safe journey to a game rather than take their chances on our busy highways.
There must be many former Sunlander carriages sitting in railway workshops just waiting to be resurrected to offer such a service?