Skyrail from Kuranda to Cairns. The Barron Waterfalls from the Skyrail trip.
The Kuranda Railway and the Skyrail.
Construction began in 1886 but there was a long struggle to get to that point. Cairns was not the first place to be considered for an inland railway. In 1882 both Cairns and Port Douglas formed railway committees to lobby for a railway from their port. Then Innisfail joined the competition! The government sent Christie Palmerston, a prospector, explorer and adventurer to explore all three sites. He had previously cut a track through the rainforests from Port Douglas to the Herberton tin mines on the Arthurton tablelands. He also created a road from Innisfail to Herberton. He worked closely with Aboriginal people in his endeavours and he moved to Townsville in 1886 living there until he died a few years later. He recommended Cairns for the new rail terminal in 1884. It was a further two years before the rail work began. Getting a rail line up through the Barron River Gorge was a great engineering feat and it was all accomplished with hand pick and shovel. No wonder it took 5 years of work for the rail line to reach what is now Kuranda. The goal was to reach Mareeba which it did 2 years later in 1893.
The rail contract was split into three sections with different contractors for each. The first section had easy gradients nevertheless it took three different contractors to succeed in crossing the swamps which were more difficult than imagined. It took government workers to finish off this first easy section in 1887! The middle sector was the most difficult as it covered the main climb of over 300 metres to the top of the ranges. A contractor began this difficult task in 1887. Up to 1,500 men worked on this part of the track with at least one death. The section required 15 tunnels, 93 bends and dozens of bridges, yet the contractor finished on time in 1891. Meantime work had started on the third section to Kuranda which was finished a few weeks after section two. The line opened with fanfare in June 1891. After reaching Mareeba it was a further 12 years- 1910- before the line was extended even further to Herberton tin mines. The early rail freight from Kuranda included coffee, butter, milk, and timber. Mareeba in the Atherton tablelands has a mild climate- 920 mm of rain a year, with temperatures varying from an average of 11 for July minimum to 32 November maximum. It is still a dairying district.
Skyrail cableway train was a much easier project! But there was much controversy surrounding its construction through the Barron Gorge National Park which is part of the World Heritage listed Queensland Rainforest site. Fears about damage to the rainforest meant it took 7 years to get planning approval for the project after numerous environmental impact surveys and appeals and changes to the designs. Unlike the Kuranda railway, construction was the easy part. It took just over a year to erect the towers for the cables to support the railcars. Four Skyrail stations were constructed allowing passengers to get off and walk around each area. The Barron Falls Station is the best as you get wonderful views of the impressive Barron River Falls. The Falls drop around 260 metres hence in 1935 a hydro-electric power station to harness that energy was built. The map above shows how the Skyrail route crosses the rail track a couple of times. Since its opening this impressive and easy way of looking at the rainforest has won dozens of Australian tourism awards and four international tourism awards. In the rainforest beneath the Skyrail you should be able to see Birds-nest and Elkhorn ferns, and native Sandalwood, Candlenut and Corkwood trees.
Skyrail from Kuranda to Cairns. The Barron Waterfalls from the Skyrail trip.
The Kuranda Railway and the Skyrail.
Construction began in 1886 but there was a long struggle to get to that point. Cairns was not the first place to be considered for an inland railway. In 1882 both Cairns and Port Douglas formed railway committees to lobby for a railway from their port. Then Innisfail joined the competition! The government sent Christie Palmerston, a prospector, explorer and adventurer to explore all three sites. He had previously cut a track through the rainforests from Port Douglas to the Herberton tin mines on the Arthurton tablelands. He also created a road from Innisfail to Herberton. He worked closely with Aboriginal people in his endeavours and he moved to Townsville in 1886 living there until he died a few years later. He recommended Cairns for the new rail terminal in 1884. It was a further two years before the rail work began. Getting a rail line up through the Barron River Gorge was a great engineering feat and it was all accomplished with hand pick and shovel. No wonder it took 5 years of work for the rail line to reach what is now Kuranda. The goal was to reach Mareeba which it did 2 years later in 1893.
The rail contract was split into three sections with different contractors for each. The first section had easy gradients nevertheless it took three different contractors to succeed in crossing the swamps which were more difficult than imagined. It took government workers to finish off this first easy section in 1887! The middle sector was the most difficult as it covered the main climb of over 300 metres to the top of the ranges. A contractor began this difficult task in 1887. Up to 1,500 men worked on this part of the track with at least one death. The section required 15 tunnels, 93 bends and dozens of bridges, yet the contractor finished on time in 1891. Meantime work had started on the third section to Kuranda which was finished a few weeks after section two. The line opened with fanfare in June 1891. After reaching Mareeba it was a further 12 years- 1910- before the line was extended even further to Herberton tin mines. The early rail freight from Kuranda included coffee, butter, milk, and timber. Mareeba in the Atherton tablelands has a mild climate- 920 mm of rain a year, with temperatures varying from an average of 11 for July minimum to 32 November maximum. It is still a dairying district.
Skyrail cableway train was a much easier project! But there was much controversy surrounding its construction through the Barron Gorge National Park which is part of the World Heritage listed Queensland Rainforest site. Fears about damage to the rainforest meant it took 7 years to get planning approval for the project after numerous environmental impact surveys and appeals and changes to the designs. Unlike the Kuranda railway, construction was the easy part. It took just over a year to erect the towers for the cables to support the railcars. Four Skyrail stations were constructed allowing passengers to get off and walk around each area. The Barron Falls Station is the best as you get wonderful views of the impressive Barron River Falls. The Falls drop around 260 metres hence in 1935 a hydro-electric power station to harness that energy was built. The map above shows how the Skyrail route crosses the rail track a couple of times. Since its opening this impressive and easy way of looking at the rainforest has won dozens of Australian tourism awards and four international tourism awards. In the rainforest beneath the Skyrail you should be able to see Birds-nest and Elkhorn ferns, and native Sandalwood, Candlenut and Corkwood trees.