The first meeting to be held with the object of agitating for an extension of the railway from Kyogle to Beaudesert occurred on April 26, 1912.
Many years of meetings and discussion ensued, with consideration also being given to alternative routes from Murwillumbah to Tweed Heads or Kyogle to Killarney.
One difficulty inherent in any discussion of the railway was that the Queensland Railway Commission had dictated that lines in the state be narrow gauge, 3ft 6 inches, while those in New South Wales were standard gauge, 4 ft 8½ inches.
In order for the line to be fully effective, a standard gauge line would have to be built that would not connect to the Queensland network.
The Back Creek Railway League was formed at a meeting in 1912.
Although Back Creek was not on the proposed line, the league advocated for the construction from that time on.
Members of the League travelled to Lamington in February 1914 where they addressed men who had been successful in the building of the Beaudesert Tramway. They agreed that great national advantage as well as the decided local benefit from having a line from Beaudesert to Kyogle would accrue from its construction.
The proposed railway line would prove a bonus for the people of northern New South Wales who would be able to access markets in less than half the time it took that same product to travel to Sydney.
The access to medical services would also improve life for the isolated communities along the line. A major issue to be considered was the gradient to be climbed as the line reached the top of the Border Ranges.
The unique Coucal Spiral was the result.
