WESTLANDER & STATION HISTORY
The Cunnamulla Railway Station opened in 1898, when the railway arrived in town. The Westlander ran from Brisbane to Cunnamulla and was the 4th busiest rail-line in the state.
The station burnt down in and was rebuilt in the 1930’s and passenger trains ran up until 1994. After this freight trains ran for another few years, but after severe flooding QLD Rail stopped all the Westlander trains at Charleville and introduced a rail bus from Charleville to Cunnamulla which continues to today.
On September 5th 2014 a truck carrying 52 tonnes of ammonium nitrate crashed into the Angellala Bridge, 30km south of Charleville. It caught fire and exploded whilst fire fighters were trying to extinguish the blaze.
This was the largest explosion in Australian transport history and had blast radius of more than a kilometre wide and destroyed the road and a railway bridge that had stood for over 100 years!
Thankfully nobody was killed, but the rail line was no more and the fate of the Cunnamulla rail line was sealed forever.
THE PAROO PROGRESS ASSOCIATION
After almost 20 years of neglect, many members of the community became increasingly concerned about the state of the Railway Station which had been integral in the lives and history of the town.
In 2018 the Paroo Progress Association started negotiations with QLD Rail firstly about just leasing the building and bringing it back to its former glory and then the idea of showcasing the movie developed from there.
The entire project cost near to a million dollars, with two thirds of that coming from funding and the association raising the other third themselves. It was incredibly difficult to raise the funds during covid but they managed to do so, finishing the building and movie just in time for regional restrictions to be lifted in May 2020.
The first multimedia showing on the new 15m wide screen, in air-conditioned comfort was on May 27th 2021.
THE BOB PONCHO BAND SCULPTURES
The Progress Association raised approximately $70,000 from volunteers showing the movie every afternoon for eight months of the year. The first $20,000 raised was spent on the junk metal statues of the Cunnamulla Town Band that now sit proudly in front of the railway station.
They were made by Rheese Teelow, a welder by trade, who put them together in a matter of weeks for the committee.
These pay homage to Bob Poncho and the town band who turned out for the Westlander train at the station for ever major event for town, whether it was sporting teams returning home, celebrities visiting or any other great event.
The All Aboard show and the buildings were run by Volunteers from the Paroo Progress Association for 3 years.
These volunteers were all business owners or retired owners and their volunteering time became more difficult each year.
In April 2024 the Paroo Progress Association handed over operations to the Cunnamulla Tourism and Events team to take forward in time for the 2024 visitor season.
