investors to make available their local knowledge, experience and interest, the company planned to allot £50,000 to Queenslanders. Local support was not as great as expected and the whole of the capital required was subscribed by Melbourne businessmen. First proposal and bill In September 1884, the Vernon Corporation presented the Maryborough and Urangan Railway Bill to the Queensland Parliament. Included in the bill was the proposal to build a railway or tramway from Maryborough to Urangan, which the company guaranteed to build within 8 months if the bill were to be passed. It was noted that the line would benefit the district and the coal trade, as well as providing easy access to the beach resort of Pialba. Other proposals included the privilege selection of 1,000 acres of Burrum coal land at market value and the purchasing of 200 acres of frontage land on Hervey Bay for the construction of wharves. The proposed railway was planned to commence at Kent Street in Maryborough, and would run along the main line to Baddow, causing as little inconvenience to the railway traffic to Gympie as possible. It would then utilise the first 7 and a half miles (12 km) of the Burrum railway to a point approximately the same location as Colton, then run north-east to Pialba and south to Urangan on a new formation. The coal traffic would be catered for by a loop line which would diverge from the Burrum railway line (now part of the main North Coast railway line) north of Baddow and join the new line somewhere near Pialba. Stations were to be located at Kent Street (in Maryborough), Pialba (where watering facilities would be provided) and Urangan (where the main office and workshops were to be located). The rails were to be 60 lb (27 kg) per yard, and although this weight would eventually become state standard, it was heavier than the rail that was eventually used when the railway was built. The government had the option to buy the railway and wharf facilities at a cost, plus 5% of the value of rolling stock and other equipment, after ten years. Extensive alterations were made to the bill after a select committee was set up to investigate it, and although there were no alterations to the course of the line, the committee added that the line was to be built within three years and the period