Lake Margaret Tram

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Lake Margaret Tram
Riley rail bus
Riley rail bus
Route length: 11.25 km
Gauge : 610 mm ( 2 foot track )

The Lake Margaret Tram or Howard's Plains Tram was a narrow gauge railway on the west side of Mount Sedgwick in the West Coast Range on the west coast of Tasmania , built and operated by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company for the people of Lake Margaret . Lake Margaret was then not connected to the road network.

construction

When the trees around Queenstown were largely cut down around 1903, the loggers moved to Howards Plain’s on the high plateau to the north-west of Queenstown. Since the approach to the plateau was steep, a counterbalanced funicular was built with a gauge of 610 mm (2 feet). A narrow-gauge railway was laid from the top station of the steep section , which was gradually extended to a length of about 7.25 kilometers (4¼ miles) towards Lake Margaret.

From August 19, 1912, a hydroelectric power station was built on Lake Margaret . The narrow-gauge railway was extended over a stretch with switchbacks from 7.25 kilometers (4¼ miles) to 11.25 kilometers (7 miles) to the power station.

After the completion of the power plant on November 28, 1914, the narrow-gauge railway continued to be used for freight and passenger traffic, especially for transporting firewood for the employees and their families living in the remote settlement. A second power plant was built about 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) below the first power plant in 1931 and was also connected to the narrow-gauge railway.

Route shortening

The terminus of the line was moved in 1937 from the top station of the funicular to the new road from Queenstown to Strahan , as the funicular was no longer needed since the road was opened. After the completion of the road to Zeehan in 1941, the route was shortened again.

Rail vehicles

Tulloch diesel locomotive

Initially, the narrow-gauge railway was operated by Krauss locomotives, and in later years an Alfa Romeo gasoline locomotive was used. Several railcars were used on the route, including a Riley and later a Vauxhall .

In 1959, the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company acquired two narrow-gauge diesel shunting locomotives made by Tulloch Limited of Rhodes , New South Wales . These were actually intended for the company's own above-ground narrow-gauge railway network. They were powered by a Fordson four-cylinder engine with 40 hp. One of the locomotives was used on the Lake Margaret Tram. It weighed 4.5 tons.

  • Diesel locomotive

  • Vauxhall - Railbus (built in 1938) on the Trestle Bridge, 1963

  • Vauxhall rail bus at the hairpin, 1963

  • Vauxhall rail bus, 1952

  • Vauxhall rail bus at a stop

closure

Until a road to the power plant and settlement was built in 1964, the Lake Margaret Tram was the only connection to Lake Margaret. Then the tram was shut down. After the tracks of the narrow-gauge railway had been dismantled, part of the route was made accessible to the public as a hiking trail.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Lou Rae: A history of railways and tramways on Tasmania's West Coast. 4th edition, 1986, ISBN 978-0-9592098-0-8 .
  2. ^ Queenstown Notes. . In: Zeehan and Dundas Herald , April 21, 1906, p. 4. Retrieved June 4, 2016. 
  3. ↑ Railway Transportation ISSN 0033-9024. March 1959. p. 53.
  4. ^ Lake Margaret Tramway Trail