The Mackay Railway was a 68 kilometres (42 mi) line situated in the Pioneer River valley in North Queensland, Australia.

[1][2][3] Mackay, about 1000 km north of Brisbane, is situated at the entrance of a fertile river valley, and was quickly developed for agriculture, especially sugar cane.

The Mackay railway was built to allow growers to ship their sugar cane to alternative buyers, ending the mill monopolies.

[4] The first section opened from Mackay to Eton, the only other town in the region at the time, together with a branch from Newbury Junction to Mirani, 36 km in total, in 1885.

[7] Keen to facilitate further development, the Pioneer Shire Council funded the construction of a 9 km extension to Finch Hatton, opened in 1904.

In 1921 Mackay was linked to the North Coast line to Rockhampton and Brisbane, with the northern connection to Townsville opening in 1923.

Because cane is harvested for 6 months each year, the Mackay railway network had two distinct seasons, one much quieter than the other.

In 1967 the Kungurri and Owens Creek branches were sold to local sugar mills and converted to 610mm (2') gauge cane tramways.