It was opened in 1974 and operated until 1992 when the mine ran out of ore.[1] Ore was then shipped from New Caledonia to the port of Townsville and railed from there to Yabulu until the refinery closed in 2016.
The track has been for walking, mountain biking and four-wheel-driving and there have been proposals to formalise this use, but collapses of tunnels along the route have raised safety issues.
[5]From Townsville to Greenvale we're building a lineThrough the ranges and gorges to the great nickel mine.Keith Jamieson's 2002 sequel parody "The Ghost of Three Rivers Hotel" is about the line's abandonment.
Recorded by Jeff Brown, it won Traditional Bush Ballad of the Year at the Tamworth Songwriters Awards in 2003.
[6]They're holding a sale at the town of GreenvaleThey're selling that great railway line.My memory goes back as they pull up the trackFrom the coast to that old nickel mine.