List of tramways in Queensland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of tramways in Queensland provides three separate lists, each in alphabetical order of the key identifier. They are:

  • Non sugar cane tramways, ordered by Tramway Name as contained in Wikipedia articles.
  • Sugar cane tramways, ordered by Sugar Mill Name, of which not all mills have a Wikipedia article.
  • Miscellaneous tramways for which only limited information is available, ordered by Enterprise Name as contained in Wikipedia articles

This list article does not include the Brisbane tramway network, the Brisbane Tramway Museum, the Gold Coast light rail, or the Rockhampton steam tram network.

The information listed is derived from the references and from the wikilinked articles (including those in “See also”)

Non sugar cane tramways[]

Except where shown otherwise these tramways had a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm). They were regarded as tramways because of their lighter construction, and because they did not compete with government railways. The Mapleton Tramway, a former sugar cane tramway, is included in this list because it has its own article, and is heritage listed.

Tramway lengths are shown in miles to conform to other Australian railway articles. Where the source shows the distance in kilometres some small difference may occur due to rounding.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.
Tramway name[1] Owner / operator From locality To locality From year To year Length Gauge Notes
Aramac Aramac Shire Aramac Barcaldine 1913 1975 41 mi (66 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Now a heritage listed station and museum at Aramac.
Ballara Hampton mine Devoncourt (former train station) Ballara (former mining town) 1915 1926 21.8 mi (35 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Served the “Wee Macgregor” mine, in the locality of Kuridala.
This line joined a 1.85 mi (3 km) tramway, with 2 ft (610 mm) gauge.
Barakula Queensland Railway Department Chinchilla Barakula State Forest 1911 1970 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) The tramway transported railway sleepers made from logs taken from the state forest at Barakula and milled at the Barakula sawmill (approx 26°25′40″S 150°30′16″E / 26.4279°S 150.5044°E / -26.4279; 150.5044 (Barakula sawmill (former))). The route of the Barakula tramway was based on an earlier plan to construct a railway line from Chinchilla to Taroom that was subsequently abandoned in favour of a railway line from Miles to Taroom.[2][3] [4][5]
Beaudesert Shire Beaudesert Shire Beaudesert Lamington and
Rathdowney 		1903 1944 39.36 mi (63.34 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) With a branch line from Tabooba to Rathdowney.
Belmont Belmont Shire Norman Park Belmont 1912 1926 4.3 mi (6.9 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Passenger tramway.
Big Pineapple The Big Pineapple Loop around the property 1971 N/A 0.6 mi (1.0 km) 2 ft (610 mm) Tourist tramway.
Buderim Maroochy Shire Palmwoods railway station Buderim 1914 1935 7.2 mi (11.6 km) 2 ft (610 mm) Built to carry farm produce from Buderim.
Now heritage listed remnants at Buderim.
Cooloola Brisbane Saw Mills Broutha Scrub, Cooloola Poverty Point, Cooloola 1874 1884 8.5 mi (13.7 km) 2 ft (610 mm) (assumed) Built to carry timber to Tin Can Bay.
Now heritage listed remnants[6] in Great Sandy National Park.
Innisfail Johnstone Shire Mourilyan Harbour Mourilyan 1883 1997 6.8 mi (11 km) 2 ft (610 mm) Built to carry materials from Mourilyan Harbour to build the Mourilyan sugar mill.
Later expanded into a sugar cane tramway network to service the Mourilyan mill.
Laheys Laheys Sawmill Canungra Upper Coomera 1900 1933 16.5 mi (26.6 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Now a heritage listed tunnel at Canungra.
Mapleton Moreton Central Sugar Mill Nambour Mapleton 1897 2003 26.1 mi (42.0 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Expanded to a network of lines converging on Nambour.
Now a heritage listed tramway segment in Nambour, and
Tramway Lift Bridge over Maroochy River..
Mill Point McGhie, Luya and Co. Near Kin Kin Creek Mill Point sawmill, Como 1870s 1890s 4 mi (6.4 km) 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Timber haulage near Lake Cootharaba, originally using timber rails.
Heritage listed remnants at Como.
Stannary Hills Stannary Hills Mines and Tramway Company Boonmoo[7] Stannary Hills 1902 1941 Unknown 2 ft (610 mm) Built for tin mining.
Now heritage listed remnants at Irvinebank, and a rail trail to Boonmoo.[8]
Refer to Chillagoe Railway & Mining Co. for a map showing Boonmoo, Stannary Hills, Irvinebank and Rocky Bluff, and the tramways between them.
Stannary Hills[9] Irvinebank 1907 1936 7.5 mi (12.1 km)(est)
Stannary Hills Rocky Bluff (a former mining town in the locality of Watsonville) 1902 1926 6.8 mi (10.9 km)

Sugar cane tramways[]

With the exception of the Oaklands and Pioneer mill tramways, with a gauge of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), and the Morayfield line (3 ft (914 mm)), these tramways have a gauge of 2 ft (610 mm). None of these tramways have their own article, but some of the mills have articles in which the associated tramway network is mentioned. Most of the locality articles contain some information about the associated sugar mill/s.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.
Mill name[1]' Mill locality Mill open year Mill close year Notes
Babinda Babinda 1915 2011 Dates from ref.[10]
Bingera South Kolan 1885[11] N/A
Bloomfield Bloomfield 1885 1890 Tramway was 10 mi (16 km) long, built from portable track. Mill closed 1890.
Cattle Creek Finch Hatton 1906 1990 Tramway absorbed by Marian mill.
Fairymead Fairymead 1884 2004/5 Tramway absorbed by Bingera mill.
Farleigh Farleigh 1883 N/A Tramway built 1956 to 1961.[12]
Gin Gin Wallaville 1896 1974 Tramway absorbed by Bingera mill.
Goondi Goondi 1883 1987 Tramway absorbed by Babinda and Mourilyan mills.
Habana Habana 1883 1901 Heritage listed remains at Habana.
Hambleton Edmonton 1895 1992 Tramway, built in 1897, absorbed by Mulgrave mill.
Inkerman Home Hill 1914 N/A
Invicta Giru 1918 N/A
Isis Cordalba 1896 N/A
Kalamia Brandon N/A
Macknade Macknade 1874 N/A
Marian Marian 1885 / 1895[13] N/A
Millaquin Bundaberg North 1882[14] N/A
Morayfield Morayfield 1867 1889 A 3 mi (4.8 km), 3 ft (914 mm) gauge line. Tram initially horse-drawn; later by an 8-ton locomotive.
Heritage listed ruins, including tramway rails.
Moreton Nambour 1897 2003 Mill demolished in 2006 and most lines removed.
See Mapleton tramway in the above table for further details.
Mossman Mossman 1894 N/A
Mourilyan[15] Mourilyan 1884 2006 Mill destroyed by Cyclone Larry.
Mulgrave Gordonvale 1896 N/A See also Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway, a 31 mi (50 km), 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge line incorporated into Queensland Rail In 1911.
North Eton North Eton 1888 1989 Tramway absorbed by Pleystowe and Racecourse mills.
Pioneer Brandon N/A
Plane Creek Sarina 1896 N/A
Pleystowe Pleystowe 1872 2009 Dates from ref.[16]
Proserpine Proserpine 1897 N/A
Qunaba Qunaba pre-1900 1985 Tramway absorbed by Millaquin and Fairymead mills.
Racecourse Racecourse 1889[17] N/A
Richmond Richmond 1881 1895 Heritage listed remnants at Richmond.
South Johnstone South Johnstone 1916[18] N/A
Tully Tully 1925 N/A
Victoria Victoria Plantation 1883[19] N/A

Shared sugar cane tramways[]

The following mills, through common ownership arrangements, share their tramway networks:[1]

  • Farleigh, Marian, Pleystowe and Racecourse;
  • Macknade and Victoria;
  • Babinda, Mourilyan and South Johnstone;
  • Invicta and Kalamia (via a dual gauge track over the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Pioneer line)

Other early tramways[]

This list shows early enterprises that had some form of tramway, of which little is known.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by with reliable sources.
Enterprise name Enterprise locality Open year Close year Notes
Anglo Saxon Mine Groganville 1889 1897 Tramway from gold mine to battery.
Heritage listed remnants at Groganville.
Argyle Homestead Geham 1897 4.8 mi (7.7 km) tramway from sawmill to railway at Hampton.
Heritage listed farm remnants (not tramway) at the homestead.
Beam Creek Sawmill Hazeldean 1920s 1920s 300 metre tramway for very steep descent from mountain top to bottom.[20]
Bunya Mountains National Park Bunya Mountains 1923 1928 670 metre tramway for 250 metre descent from mountain top to bottom at Wengenville, used with winches, winders and flying foxes.[21]
The logs were transferred to a horse drawn tram for movement to a log dump.[20]
A “not to scale” model can be seen at the natural history museum at the Dandabah camping area.[22]
Central Sugar Mill Yengarie 1866 1890 Tramway from wharf to mill.
Heritage listed remnants at Yengarie.
See also Yengarie Sugar Refinery Ruins.
Cressbrook Creek Sawmill Cressbrook Creek 1922 1930s 700 metre tramway for very steep descent from mountain top to bottom.[23]
The logs were transferred to a horse drawn tram for movement to the sawmill.[20]
Cumberland Company Cumberland 1891 1897 800 metre tramway from gold mine to Battery.
Brick chimney of Battery is only remains.
Evelyn Scrub War Memorial Evelyn 1910 1921 6.2 mi (10 km) tramway from timber mill to railway line.
Heritage listed items (not tramway) at the War Memorial.
Hampton Timber Tramway Palmtree 1901 1936 6 mi (9.7 km) tramway from timber mill at Palmtree to railway line at Hampton.
Killarney railway line Tannymorel 1908 1964 Tramway from Mount Colliery coal mine to railway line at Tannymorel.
Lytton Quarantine Station Lytton 1913 1980s Tramway from wharf to Reception House.
Heritage listed remnants at Lytton.
Mount Crosby Pumping Station Mount Crosby 1913 1932 Tramway from Tivoli for construction, and then to bring coal to power the pumps.
Heritage listed site (no remnants of tramway)
Neranwood Hardwood Company Neranwood 1923 1928 Tramway from sawmill to railway at Mudgeeraba.
Pinelands Sawmill[24] Hillview 1904 1912 5 mi (8 km) tramway from timber source to sawmill.
Visible evidence is a rock cutting up to three metres deep and ten metres long.
Scrubby Creek Sawmill[25] Royston 1920s 1920s Royston is 8.7 mi (14.0 km) east of Kilcoy. (see map)[26] Short tramway and chute from timber source to sawmill.
Visible evidence is cuttings, embankments and sleepers.
St Helena Island Moreton Bay 1885 Passenger tramway - first in Queensland.
Heritage listed site (remnants of tramway ?)
St Lawrence Meatworks and Wharf St Lawrence 1860s 1911 Tramway between meatworks, other buildings (and wharf?)
Heritage listed remnants at St Lawrence.
Sundown Tin and Copper Mine Stanthorpe 1904 1923 250 metre tramway from copper mine to furnace.
Heritage listed remnants (no tramway) at Stanthorpe.
Totley Township Ravenswood 1890 Endless chain tramway between silver mine and treatment plant.
Heritage listed remnants at Ravenswood.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Browning, John (30 Jul 2007). "Queensland sugar cane railways today". lrrsa.org.au. Light Railway Research Society of Australia Inc. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  2. ^ "RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT". The Brisbane Courier (16, 643). Queensland, Australia. 16 May 1911. p. 5. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "DOWNS RAILWAYS". Darling Downs Gazette. LIV (9853). Queensland, Australia. 16 September 1911. p. 5. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "From Charley's Creek to Chinchilla" (PDF). The railway through Queensland's south and west. Queensland Rail. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 March 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  5. ^ Houghton, Norman (June 2008). "Queensland Rail Tales" (PDF). Australian Forest History Society Inc. Newsletter (49): 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  6. ^ "Pettigrew's Cooloola Timber Tramway Complex". apps.des.qld.gov.au. Queensland Government. 31 Aug 2016. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 22 Dec 2019.
  7. ^ "Boonmoo - Where was it located". mbahistsoc.org.au. The Historical Society of Mareeba. 2012. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020. Retrieved 22 Dec 2019.
  8. ^ "Irvinebank to Boonmoo rail trail". railtrails.org.au. Rail Trails Australia. 2019. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 22 Dec 2019.
  9. ^ "Stannary Hills". queenslandplaces.com.au. The University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 22 Dec 2019.
  10. ^ Bain, Lee (2012). "Babinda Sugar Mill 1915 - 2011" (PDF). babindainfocentre.com.au. Babinda Information Centre. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  11. ^ "Bingera and South Bingera". queenslandplaces.com.au. The University of Queensland. 2018. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  12. ^ "Farleigh Mill". mkysugar.com.au. Mackay Sugar. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  13. ^ "Marian Mill". mkysugar.com.au. Mackay Sugar. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  14. ^ "Bundaberg Sugar Millaquin Mill". foodprocessing-technology.com. Food Processing Technology. 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  15. ^ "Mourilyan, Qld". aussietowns.com.au. Aussie Towns. 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 22 Dec 2019.
  16. ^ "Pleystowe Mill". mkysugar.com.au. Mackay Sugar. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  17. ^ "Racecourse Mill". mkysugar.com.au. Mackay Sugar. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  18. ^ George, Jann (28 Oct 2016). "South Johnstone Mill celebrates 100 years". northqueenslandregister.com.au. North Queensland Register. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  19. ^ Zelmer, A C Lynn (2003). "Victoria Mill (Ingham, Qld) over the Years" (PDF). zelmeroz.com. Cane Tram Notes. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 21 Dec 2019.
  20. ^ a b c Kerr and Philpott, JD and MM (1971). "Lars Andersen's Timber Tramways" (PDF). southburnett.biz. Queensland Heritage. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 29 Dec 2019.
  21. ^ "Bunya Mountains National Park - Nature, culture and history - Harvest of the bunya pine". parks.des.qld.gov.au. Queensland Government - Department of Environment and Science. 2019. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 28 Dec 2019.
  22. ^ "Timber Tramway Lives Again". southburnett.com.au. South Burnett Online. 2 Mar 2015. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 Dec 2019.
  23. ^ "A Mountain Tramway". trove.nla.gov.au. Trove. 9 Sep 1922. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 30 Dec 2019.
  24. ^ Kerr, John (January 1988). "Pinelands Tramway, Widgee Creek" (PDF). agriculture.gov.au. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (Queensland). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 Dec 2019.
  25. ^ Kerr, John (January 1988). "Scrubby Creek Tramway (scroll to pages 260-262)" (PDF). agriculture.gov.au. Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (Queensland). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 Dec 2019.
  26. ^ Google (28 Dec 2019). "Kilcoy to Royston" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 28 Dec 2019.
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