Summary

An impasse over completion of the Bowen Railway to the Northern or Townsville Railway, led to several North Queensland local authorities (Townsville Municipal Council, Thuringowa Divisional Board and Ayr Divisional Board) forming the Ayr Tramway Joint Board. They were then granted a government loan to build a line along the coastal route to Ayr. The line was built to low standards, very cheaply, and opened on 2 April 1901. The main traffic was sugar from the sugar mills in the district which previously were taken by small ship, since the Lower Burdekin had no deep-water port. The local authorities recognised the line as part of an eventual trunk route and persistently requested that the line be taken over by the government. Immediately following the passing of the North Coast Railway Act, negotiations were concluded and Stuart to Ayr became a government railway from 1 January 1913.