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Almaden | Print |

Almaden Station
Almaden Station
During Almaden's heyday in the early 1900s a large number of railway employees and their families boosted the population of the town that today is almost deserted. Three hotels, three stores, several shops and a post office were built in this period. The railway town's importance continued until the closure of the Chillagoe Smelters in the mid-1940s. The historic Railway Hotel still trades today.

Opened in 1901, Almaden Railway Station handled the ore traffic on the Chillagoe Railway line and served as the loading point for Edward Torpy's silver-lead mine at Crooked Creek. Until the Line was extended to Forsayth, Cobb and Co. coaches ran a regular service from Almaden to Georgetown. The town prospered as it became the centre for the construction of the Etheridge Railway and the extension to Forsayth. On the completion of the Etheridge line in 1910, Almaden became an important junction, handling ore trains from Forsayth as well as traffic on the Chillagoe line. It was the second-most important station after Chillagoe on the private mining railway network west of Mareeba.

The State Government took over the line in June 1919, following the collapse of the Chillagoe Company. The station retains the original water tank from the steam locomotive period, together with mechanical signalling, once common installations that are now rare.