Rails to the Peninsula

摘要

In the 1880s property speculation was all the rage amongst 'cashed up' investors in Melbourne and Brisbane. The wealthy wanted seaside retreats and the others sought to visit the beaches. The first excursion railway in Queensland opened to Sandgate on 11 May 1882, at the urging of these investors, who were mainly part of the huge conglomerate of the Mcllwraith & McEachern group of companies, based in Brisbane, Melbourne and London. By year's end subdivisions were being sold across Bramble Bay on the Redcliffe Peninsular. A railway extension was called for from the Sandgate Line across the Pine Rivers and Hays Inlet to Margate and along the peninsula to Scarborough. Public meetings were held as early as 1884.