Carmila

The line from Mackay to Carmila was opened for traffic from August 1920, where it became the railhead of the line for the following thirteen months while construction crept south towards St Lawrence. The station here was one of the last to remain, as one can see in one of the photographs in February 1994 it was removed, to become a beach house some kilometers down the road.

Captured in this gallery is the last QR train that hauled sugar cane to the mill. This train was worked on 4 December 1994, delivering cane to the Plane Creek Mill at Sarina.

The last train was memorable for many reasons. It was thought as a good send off to let all those who had used the cane service for many years to have a ride. So, QR gathered some old steel guard’s vans and five were duly sent to Sarina, and rustled up as a passenger train for all the cane farmers, growers,contractors and any other odd individuals. I (Davo) rode the empty coaches down to Carmila with another workmate, and attached the last rake of wagons in the siding.
Then the fun started, a large contingent of already well inebriated indiviuals piled on with eskies full of amber fluid and more lethal substances. It was not long before bottles were being hurled out of windows, doors, and even inside the odd carriage. Some were thrown backwards and up to break on the roof. We stopped at Koumala briefly, then as we left one gentleman was running along side trying to reboard. The platform went upwards at the northern end to a loading ramp, he duly flew off face first belly flopping into the ballast, and lay unmoving.
The official QR guard vacated the train at Yukan as it was all too much.
Finally after the same earlier shenanigans involving bottle wars between the carriages, we arrived at Sarina and were pushed back into a road as far away from the station as they could get.
This happened to be right in the confines of the mill grounds.
As the sorry and smashed lot of passengers debouched forth and tried to find their bearings, nature decided to rain on the parade in fine style, with a huge thunderous downpour, drenching all and sundry in true drowned rat fashion.
The barking and ungentle ministrations from various wives, girlfriends and others of the female gender could be heard above the torrential precipitation, as a final goodbye to this what was this last remaining antiquated service provided by Queensland Railways.