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The turning of the first railway sod in Queensland was performed on 25 February 1864 by Lady Bowen, wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Governor of the colony.
After much consideration, the decision was made to run the line from Ipswich to Bigge’s Camp, now known as Grandchester. Ipswich was an obvious choice as a business centre and port for the expanding pastoral industry. The policy of the day was to push on to the Darling Downs and avoid Brisbane altogether as the citizens of Ipswich saw their town as the future capital of any new colony.
The railway adopted engineering and signalling practices that were similar to those operating in England at the time. Opened on 31 July 1865, the line ran a total of 20.83 miles (approximately 33.5 kilometres).
Class B locomotives in service were originally manufactured in Glasgow, Scotland by Neilson and Company and imported to Queensland. The Government Workshops in Ipswich later began manufacturing locomotives and carriages during the 1970s.
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 | | A list of Queenslanders issued with the first free rail passes, extract from the Morocco Free-passes issued from the Commissioner for Railways Office, Brisbane, 4 August 1865
Queensland State Archives Item ID 1139516, Digital Image ID 2928
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 | 1864 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland published | |
1864 International Red Cross founded |
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