On 30 January 1873 the ceremony of "turning the sod" for the first rail link between Ipswich and Brisbane took place at Goodna. Two thousand people attended the event, most arriving by paddle steamer. To officially start the work, the Queensland Governor George Phipps, 2nd Marquess of Normanby, used a solid silver spade to dig a small piece of earth and place it in a wheelbarrow. Cobb and Co coaches stopped at Goodna on their way to and from Brisbane (their only other stops were Oxley and Rocklea). This ended after the railway link was completed in 1875.