township

The Quilpie Shire has a long railway history with Quilpie being at the end of the Western railway line. The line was destined for the township of Adavale, but this did not eventuate instead, it was redirected to the settlement now know as Quilpie. Construction on the new railway line commenced 1911 and reached the site of Quilpie in 1917. The first passenger service commenced in 1935 and by 1951 two passenger trains per week ran between Charleville and Quilpie. In the late 1950’s “The Flying Flea” as they called it, was an engine and a couple of coaches, to Quilpie. It was supposed to be the fastest timed passenger train in Queensland. Older residents have told stories of how they used to catch this train for sporting events in Charleville. Prior to 1930, Quilpie was within the Shire of Adavale, headquartered at Adavale. However, the decision to route the railway line through Quilpie rather than Adavale had led to a population drift away from Adavale making Quilpie the larger town. On 17 July 1930, there was a re-organisation of local government in the district, resulting in the abolition of the Shire of Adavale and the creation of the Shire of Quilpie with Quilpie as its headquarters. Source: www.outbackqueensland.com.au/attractions/quilpie-shire-ra...

Note: the date stamp recorded incorrectly. The Reunion took place in 2001.

Gladstone, city, eastern Queensland, eastern Australia, on Port Curtis, an inlet of the Coral Sea. Originally settled in 1847 as a colony by the New South Wales government, it was abandoned in 1848 but was resettled by squatters in 1853. It was named for the British chancellor of the Exchequer (later prime minister) William Ewart Gladstone and became a municipality in 1863. Source: www.britannica.com/place/Gladstone-Queensland

* Prior to the settlement of Europeans the area around Gladstone was occupied by the Gureng Gureng Aboriginal people. * The Gladstone coastline was first explored by Captain Cook in 1770. He sighted and named Bustard Head to the south of the city at Town of 1770. * In 1802 Matthew Flinders reached the area and named Port Curtis after Sir Roger Curtis, the Commandant of the Cape of Good Hope. * In 1823 John Oxley explored the coastline. * By 1856 the town had a population of 200. * The town was connected to Brisbane by rail in 1896. * By 1903 the town's population was around 1,500. * In 2011 the city's population was 32,000. * In 2015 the first shipment of liquified gas left for Asia from the Gladstone port. Source: www.aussietowns.com.au/town/gladstone-qld