Cairns – Mulgrave Tramway
| Cairns – Mulgrave Tramway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cairns – Mulgrave Tramway
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 50 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1067 mm ( cape track ) Sometimes also three |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 12 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 200 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Cairns – Mulgrave Tramway was a private light rail from Cairns to the Mulgrave River in Australia .
It was built until 1897 for the Mulgrave Central Sugar Mill, which was built in 1895. The railway was operated from April 26, 1897 to March 31, 1903 by the Cairns Divisional Board and from March 31, 1903 to January 13, 1912 by the Cairns Shire Council . From January 13, 1912 to June 30, 1912, the State Railway Department took over operations.
history
planning
Under the Sugar Works Guarantee Act of 1893, Mulgrave Central Mill Company Ltd. was founded in November 1893. founded. The idea arose to build a 22.5 km (14 mile) long light rail with a gauge of 610 mm (2 feet ) from Cairns to the Mulgrave River. The company to operate the sugar factory was registered on April 20, 1895. In May 1895, at the request of the board, O. Phillips inspected the proposed route and reported on the proposal. His recommendation to take over the normal gauge of the colony was approved and it was decided to use his services as a consulting engineer for the purposes of the small train. The investigation began towards the end of May 1895, using existing roads wherever possible. In July 1895, the survey was completed up to Mulgrave with minimum radii of 200 m and a maximum gradient of 12 ‰.
construction
After the board received a loan from the government in accordance with the rules and regulations of local government law, tenders were published for the construction of the line to the Mulgrave River. The offer of Messrs. Kirk Brothers and Frew (£ 15,319 13s.) Was accepted by the board of directors and the work was satisfactorily completed by the end of April 1897. The line was completely unfenced, but in other respects the usual railway practice of the colony was followed with the exception that the route only 3.65 m (12 feet) wide and instead mainly soil for the sand and gravel superstructure was used as well as some bridges were very low.
The route, which ran through difficult terrain including dense jungle, was built by the Cairns Divisional Board , later renamed the Cairns Shire Council , for £ 15,319. The line originally ran from Cairns to Nelson, later renamed Gordonvale . In 1898 the line was extended to Aloomba , and in 1910 it was finally extended to a length of 50 kilometers (31 miles) to Babinda . The end point in Cairns was between Spence Street and Bunda Street, adjacent to the state railroad station, with which the tram was connected via a connecting track.
building-costs
The average cost per mile through June 30, 1898, including a two-mile three-rail track, was £ 1,827. On the three-rail track, the sugar factory's narrow-gauge locomotives with a gauge of 910 mm (2 feet) could transport sugar cane and firewood from the milestone of 11¾ miles on the small train to the mill. A similar arrangement was made for the approximately 2.4 km (1½ mile) extension of the route to Aloomba.
opening
On May 3, 1897, the route was officially opened with a trip from Cairns to Nelson . Originally, the Cairns Divisional Board only had one small locomotive, built in Philadelphia , United States, in 1879 , but a second locomotive was procured in 1898. Initially, passenger coaches and freight cars were rented by the government until the company acquired its own coaches from Phoenix Engineering Co. and Shillito & Sons , both based in Ipswich . Later ten F-wagons and five H-wagons and two wooden wagons were purchased by the Toowoomba Foundry Company .
The Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway was Australia's first small public railway. The route from Cairns to Aloomba was initially 17 miles long. It had the same gauge as the Queensland Government Railways at 1067 mm (3 feet 6 inches ) and used the same rail profile . Thus all vehicles were interchangeable. The first locomotives and cars were bought by the government. In addition, government wagons were often rented because the onslaught of passenger traffic overwhelmed the resources of the small railroad.
Installation
The first section, a little over 21 km (13 miles) in length, was opened to public traffic on May 3, 1897. At that time there was an 11-inch cylinder steam locomotive that was built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia , USA. It was purchased from the Cairns State Railroad, which had owned it since 1879, for £ 700. There were also five used ballast wagons sold in Gladstone by railroad contractors James Overend & Co for £ 125. A sixty passenger light rail, previously used on government lines, was bought by the Brisbane Railroad Department for £ 100. With the help of an escort car and a luggage and passenger car intended exclusively for local passengers, as well as other rented passenger and freight cars, the railway company was able to quickly increase the volume of traffic. By June 30, 1898, the total cost of the rolling stock was £ 2,879 8s. 8d., D. H. 206 £ 11s. per mile.
First extension
As a result of the subdivision and agricultural use of a large area with lush bushland on the south side of the Mulgrave River, and the temporarily planned but ultimately not carried out construction of the Aloomba Central Mill , the Chamber decided to extend the small railway by a little more than 4.8 km ( 3 miles) across the river to Russell Main Street. The sugar cane farmers on the Aloomba Estate then agreed with the board of the railway company that they should bring around 30,000 tons of sugar cane from Aloomba to the Colonial Refining Company's mill in Hambledon .
In July 1897, the Chamber signed a contract for the construction of two low wooden bridges with a total length of 660 feet, over which the small railway should be carried over the Mulgrave River. The bridges were made entirely of wood. On April 1, 1898, construction of the Aloomba extension began with the help of day laborers from the south bank of the river, and in August 1898, with the exception of the Mulgrave Bridge, it was fully opened to traffic.
Although the bedding of the route was made of earth and was not fenced in along its entire length so that the superstructure could be trampled by cattle and horses, there were no difficulties in keeping it in good condition as far as required for the maximum permissible speed was. Sand and gravel were increasingly used in the maintenance of the railroad, but the total amount spent in the first year, except for the 1,500 yards (1,500 yards) new line still under construction, was less than 700 cubic meters. Although the rainy season was quite heavy (1989 mm of rainfall between December 1, 1897 and April 30, 1898), traffic ran non-stop.
In the bed of the Mulgrave River, there was plenty of clean, coarse sand and gravel suitable for use as a superstructure material. Therefore, a conveyor track was laid in the river bed from the extension to Aloomba. With the material at an average cost of 2s. 6d. per cubic yard was spread along the route, the superstructure was gradually improved.
Maintenance and operation
The total length of the route, which was operated up to June 30, 1898, was 24.184 km, including siding. The total cost of maintenance over the entire one year 159 days period was £ 917 8d. H. about £ 65 per mile. The cost per train mile for the entire period was 9¼d.
With the exception of the sum of £ 886 16s., Which was spent on the Mulgrave Bridge and its accesses from an amount of £ 1,500 granted by the government for this purpose, all the capital consisted of money raised by the government under the regulations of the Local Construction Loans Act of 1880 was borrowed. Including the aforementioned £ 886 16s. the total capital on June 30, 1898 was £ 44,281. The income from the operation of the Kleinbahn from the opening of the first section on May 3, 1897 to June 30, 1898, a period of one year and 59 days, was as follows:
- Travelers: £ 2504
- Goods and miscellaneous: £ 2,874
- Total: £ 5,878
- Less labor costs: £ 3,424
- Net sales: £ 1953
The percentage of labor cost of sales was 63.67% and the net proceeds of capital spent on the open route for the entire period was 6.89%. After paying interest to the Treasury, in addition to labor, the balance on June 30, 1898 was exactly £ 696. On June 30, 1899, the total capital was £ 52,572. 4d. The expenses were £ 50,220 with a balance of £ 2,352 on a Tramway Loan Fund that was not withdrawn from the Treasury at the time. As of June 30, 1899, the actual interest paid by the Directors was £ 2,969 and the principal amount was £ 892. Total sales were £ 14,967 and net sales £ 5,344.
The percentage of labor costs in income for the twelve months was 64.64%, and for the entire period in which the small railway was operating, 64.29%; in other words, every £ 100 made on the light rail from the date of opening May 5, 1897 to June 30, 1899 was £ 64 5s. 10¾d. The percentage of net sales of capital invested in the railroad for the period June 30th to June 30th was £ 6 18s. 1½d compared to 5 £ 18s. 8d. for the past twelve months. After deducting labor costs and payments to the Treasury Department for interest and principal, the balance for the twelve months ended June 30, 1899 was £ 735.
Traffic volume in the second fiscal year
54,996 passengers were carried in the twelve months from July 1, 1898 to June 30, 1899. Passenger transport income was £ 3,013, an increase of £ 508 compared to the one year and fifty-nine day period ended June 8, 1898. The average fare for the 54,996 passengers carried was d 13.16. Passenger traffic amounted to 31.4% of gross sales, compared with 46.6% for the period before June 30, 1898.
There was seating for 180 travelers, but there were times when that wasn't enough. Therefore, two passenger cars were built by the Phoenix Engineering Company in Ipswich. They offered a simple but suitable transportation solution for around 20 first class passengers and 35 second class passengers. They were supposed to be delivered in December 1899.
In addition to general goods, the movement of goods mainly comprised bananas and fruit, sugar cane, sugar from the Mulgrave and Hambledon sugar factories , logs, firewood, soil for expansion in the city, road building materials, ores from the Russell and Herberton districts and ship ballast. The minimum charge was 3s. 9d. per ton for normal goods and 2s. 6d. per ton for agricultural products other than raw sugar and sugar cane; The latter was for 14 d. per ton transported from Aloomba to Hambledon (12 miles). The minimum charge imposed by the Railroad Authority for carrying full truckloads of sugar cane fifteen miles and under was 20d. per ton; In 1898 the fee for the Kleinbahn was 10d. per ton for the Aloomba Hambledon service, but this was deemed unprofitable through actual experience given the large capital expenditures that had been made to enable the aloomba farmers to transport their crops. The total weight of goods carried during the twelve months was 71,688 tonnes for £ 6,353, which was 66.25% of gross receipts.
Over the three-rail track with a length of 3.2375 miles, 9253 tons of sugar cane and firewood were transported with narrow-gauge wagons, in addition to the normal traffic with wider gauge. The actual mileage, including three-rail track, was therefore 23,5075 miles and the cost per mile was £ 56 5s. 11¾d.
Train kilometers increased from 23,590 miles for the one year and 59 days ending June 30, 1898 to 43,481 miles for the twelve months ending June 30, 1898, an 84.3% increase while spending on maintenance increased increased by 44.3%.
Rail vehicles
In 1899, rail vehicles consisted of three locomotives, five passenger cars, 69 freight cars and two brake cars. The length of the line in 1898, including the siding but excluding the three-rail track, was 20.22 miles.
A class 5 steam locomotive was manufactured in February 1908 by Burnham, Williams & Co with the works number 32678 for the Cairns – Mulgrave Tramway.
A small Baldwin class B11 steam locomotive was originally ordered by the Great Northern Railway . She had a remarkable career with numerous changes of ownership. It was assembled in Townsville and then sold to a contractor before being used for the first time. It was later bought back, only to be resold to the same contractor. Bought back, it was then sold to Cairns – Mulgrave Tramway, only to be returned when their assets were acquired under the North Coast Railway Act.
Second extension
In December 1899 a proposal was made for a further extension of the light railroad from Aloomba to the Russell River District in the Cairns Division, for which the port of Cairns offers the best transport options. In connection with this proposal there was a regulation for the construction of a central sugar factory on Babinda Creek , which should be served by the extended route. The distance from Aloomba to Babinda Creek is twenty miles. The government had estimated £ 65,000 under the Sugar Factory Guarantee Act to equip the sugar factory. Traffic has been estimated at 10,000 tons of sugar per season from the sugar factory to the port, as almost all of the land along the route is arable land.
It was estimated that approximately 33,000 acres were already available there. Of this, 24,700 acres were classified as first class and 4,500 acres as second class. About 4,000 acres have been recorded since the survey in anticipation of the construction of the sugar factory and railroad, and there was another sizable area that had not yet been sold and was valued at 20,000 acres. The Cairns Chamber of Commerce has taken the matter up and resolved it vigorously. In addition to sugar cane cultivation, there was an unlimited amount of valuable wood that was worthless at the time because of the shortage or the means of transport. It is taken into account that the Mulgrave Central Mill paid £ 130,000 among the peasants and wage laborers, and the government paid £ 4,264 as interest. The farmers on the Aloomba Estate have made £ 30,000 from growing sugar cane for the past two seasons. A similar and even better result was expected if the small train, in conjunction with a central sugar mill, had been extended to the Russell District.
New bridge construction
The Cairns Shire Council maintained a boat on the Mulgrave River because the low bridge was regularly flooded. On one occasion a locomotive was driving through the flood when the water was already flowing over the bridge and was already so high that it nearly put out the fire. In January 1907 the water level was up to 6.1 m above the top of the rail. So a new bridge was built on a higher level over the Mulgrave River and completed in mid-1935. It was built with a 12 ton axle load as part of the line reinforcement program. Completion made it possible to use locomotives of the C16 and C17 class, which had previously only been operated with the PB15 and B15 classes and lighter locomotives between Cairns and Babinda. Spending on the bridge and route relocation in 1934-35 was £ 13,720. Although the second bridge was taller than the first, it was still subject to frequent flooding. This curved wooden bridge was one of the last major river crossings on the north coastline and was later replaced by a third, even higher, prestressed concrete structure.
nationalization
On July 1, 1911, the Queensland Government bought the line (including all inventory) from the Cairns Shire Council for £ 158,650 and incorporated it into the state rail system. The route became the northernmost section of the Sunshine Route.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Dave Elsmore: Queensland. Cairns Mulgrave Tramway.
- ^ Queensland's Archives: Mulgrave Tramway Cash Books.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u The Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway. The Queenslander (Brisbane, Queensland, 1866-1939), Saturday, December 23, 1899. p. 1241.
- ^ A b c Gerhard Rohn: Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway. Collector's Ring Australia eV, 115/2015.
- ^ Cairns Mulgrave Tramway 4-6-0 Locomotives in Australia.
- ^ B11 Baldwin Class.
- ^ The North Coast Railway Act of 1910.