Dalveen Tunnel is a heritage-listed tunnel on the Warwick to Wallangarra railway line, Dalveen, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1878 to 1880 by J Garget. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 July 2000.
History
The exploitation of the mineral resources of Queensland was recognised by political interests in Queensland as being closely linked with the development of a railway system from the period of the late 1860s and early 1870s. This connection between political decisions and economic development was further linked and with the decision taken in 1877 to construct mineral railways running from Townsville to Charters Towers (Great Northern Railway), Bundaberg to Mount Perry (Mount Perry railway line) and Maryborough to Gympie (North Coast railway line). The extension of the Southern & Western Railway from Warwick to Stanthorpe was approved along with extensions to Roma and Emerald on the same day in Parliament, 30 August 1877. The decision to construct separate railway systems with no connection to other parts of the Queensland Railway system was to result in a proliferation of separate railways throughout Queensland, (up to eleven by 1891). The system would not be unified until 1924 with the opening of the North Coast Line between Brisbane and Cairns.
The agitation for the construction of a railway from the town of Warwick to the mining centre of Stanthorpe was a major political and social rallying point for the population of the southern tablelands. The booming tin mining area around Stanthorpe provided the impetus for the extension of the railway south from Warwick. The railway had opened to Warwick on 9 January 1871. In 1873 a survey from Warwick to Stanthorpe was begun and the route to Stanthorpe was mapped. However this survey included two costly tunnels- one in length to save a detour and a tunnel to save . The permanent survey was then pressed forward, but the line that was surveyed passed through the centre of Warwick, and as a result meant expensive earthworks in the centre of the town.
A permanent survey was completed in 1876 to the mark, which was from Warwick. On this survey there were several deviations made to shorten the overall distance of the line. In 1878 the working plans for the section from Warwick to Stanthorpe were finally prepared. Tenders were called for on the 1st and 2nd sections Warwick - Stanthorpe at the end of January 1878. Section one ran to a point south of Warwick, whilst Section two ran to Stanthorpe.