Croydon, Queensland

Blackbull on the Gulflander Rail Line

Croydon Train Station

Originally a rail line was proposed from Normanton to Cloncurry to transport the mined copper up to the Gulf, but upon the discovery of gold, with a higher market value, the proposed rail line was abandoned and built instead from Normanton to Croydon 🚂

Croydon was one of the many towns that thrived well in the 1880’s gold mining boom. The town once had a population of 7000 people during that era, being the fourth largest town in Queensland. Now the town is down to the hundreds, but is still well worth a visit. It has a lovely old convenience store with antique items used through Croydon’s heyday, Lake Belmore, the Gulflander Rail line (the other end of which is at Normanton, 155 kilometres north west of Croydon) and plenty of mining history in the surrounds with discontinued equipment and mine sites. We encountered a massive bull, with big horns that looked fierce, but later found out that it was friendly. 🐂🐃🐮 We loved this area as it felt like a ghost town post tourist season, the locals were friendly and there's loads of history to experience.