RESIDENTS TRAVEL BACK FOR RAIL FESTIVAL
BACK when Toowoomba only had a population of 2000 in 1867, about 7000 people packed into the Toowoomba Railway Station to see the first train arrive into the station.
Now, 150 years later, thousands of people came to the station for the Toowoomba Festival of Rail to view two steam trains.
Festival chairman Paul Herbert said to be able to replicate that event 150 years ago was significant.
“The fact that you’ve got thousands of people here today doing the same thing would indicate that interest hasn’t gone and people are still fascinated by steam,” he said.
“Toowoomba is a rail city; it’s a rail town and rail is embedded in its DNA.
“This event today and the popularity of it would indicate that.”
As part of the festivities, which celebrated the importance of the railway to Toowoomba, two steam trains, one from Warwick and one from Brisbane, pulled up into the station, carrying hundreds of excited passengers.
“There’s a lot happening for people who are interested in the history of this precinct and the potential of it going on into the future,” Mr Herbert said.
The festival and it’s events – including tours by the Toowoomba Historical Society, DownsSteam and the National Trust of Queensland and of the air raid shelters, which were open to the public for the first time in many years – celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Toowoomba-Ipswich rail link.
Proceeds from the festival will go towards a National Trust of Queensland campaign to access the air raid shelters as an educational and tourist hub and help promote the city and it’s heritage jewel.