Hobby historians have uncovered a forgotten town in Western Queensland that has been hidden under cactus since the late 19th century.
Dulbydilla, between Mitchell and Morven, was believed to have been at its peak during the 1880s.
It was built as a camp for railway workers constructing the western line and operated for three years before the workers moved on.
With a population of 500, Dulbydilla had a post office, school, and eight to 10 pubs at any given time according to state government records.
When Toowoomba amateur historian Jane Wilson first visited the area however it was barren bushland.
"Dulbydilla just looked like sand," Ms Wilson said.
"Typical Western Queensland country, it had nothing outstanding anywhere.
"I like to describe it as a boom and bust town."
Dulbydilla had dropped off modern maps.
Ms Wilson's interest was sparked when she met other hobby historians in the area.
"I was fortunate to meet a fellow called Billy Hughes, who had been chasing buried graves in the district for a number of years," she said.
"I came across a photo of him, nosediving into bushes with the word 'Dulbydilla' underneath it and I thought, this looks interesting."
Stories from beyond the grave
Ms Wilson and Mr Hughes discovered about 20 unmarked graves in Dulbydilla's cemetery, hidden under thick cactus weeds.
The pair delved into historical archives, museum documents, as well as word of mouth stories from other residents to determine who was buried there.
Ms Wilson said her research became an obsession.
"There's a young fellow who died of consumption, he was 20. And his parents were buried in Roma about 18 months later, within a month of each other," she said.
"We've had a chemist who died within a week of moving there.
"The original publican, John Mackenzie, had spent a long part of his later life in Dulbydilla after the town had moved on."
Ms Wilson said records showed Mr Mackenzie's family built him a cottage to live out the rest of his days.
When they arrived to take him to the cottage, he had died.
He was buried in Dulbydilla.
The town's short period of operation has been a saving grace for research, Ms Wilson said.
In almost three years, she has created her own personal database of the town.
"It was likely that any mention of Dulbydilla, or its previous name [Black Waterhole], could link me back to the people who lived there," she said.
"You can also track the families working in the camps.
"We had one family who had lost a child in Dulbydilla, and then another child in Womalilla, a few kilometres east as they moved."
Ms Wilson said other identifying features such as imported plant species also helped her find unmarked or hidden sites.
Hobby historians are 'outback angels'
Maranoa Regional Council Mayor Tyson Golder said many retirees and residents had uncovered other forgotten stories in the region.
"We have many [hobby historians] in our community, and thank goodness they do," he said.
"In Roma, they've even found soldiers dating back to the Boer War that were returned. Not even from this area, but have died here.
"I call them the outback angels because they'll keep our future for the next generations."
Cr Golder said he had seen an increase in families travelling to the Maranoa region looking for their relatives.
"It's wonderful if there's somewhere they can make a connection."
Jane Wilson had also experienced the same.
"In April this year, we had a grand opening [of the cemetery after works] with nearly 100 people show up. Probably 30 to 40 per cent of those were related to someone who was buried," she said.
"There's a market now for these stories and these people to be remembered."
Cr Golder said the restoration of Dulbydilla has since become a community effort.
The cemetery has been cleared of pest plants and termites with the help of volunteers and council workers.
A prisoner work-release scheme based in Mitchell has also provided stone plinths signifying the previous grave sites and their stories.
The Maranoa Regional Council this week submitted a request to Queensland Rail to fund a storyboard to tell Dulbydilla's history.
"If every community was doing this, we wouldn't be losing our history," Ms Wilson said.
"That's the last thing I want to do, lose the history because some of it is just awesome."
