Overall I think it was a combination of climate and scenery. Even in the middle of winter the weather was generally warmer and milder than elsewhere in the state. The scenery was also generally interesting, being the wettest part of the state it was usually greener and toward the north very lush. The branch itself starts just out of Maitland, in the Hunter Valley. The line generally stayed well away from the coast following the upper reaches of a variety of river valleys. The reason for taking this particular route seem to be a combination of political pork barrelling, local interest lobbying and the need to stay clear of the flood prone costal plain as much as possible.

In my time with SRS the interstate rail line between NSW and Queensland was officially known as the North Coast Branch. This was another hang over from the steam era when the first line to link with Queensland was the line that ran through the New England district to link up with the Queensland Railways narrow gauge line at Wallangarra. A line directly through to Brisbane was not completed until 1924 and even then a bridge over the Clarence River at Grafton was not completed until 19xx. In the interim trains were broken up at South Grafton, shunted down to the river loaded onto barges and shipped over the river to be reassembled on the north bank at Grafton City. A relic of this process remained at the time with the main station for the city of Grafton being at South Grafton despite the main city centre being on the north bank.