Sandfly Colliery Tramway

Sandfly Colliery Tramway
Narrow-gauge tipper train on one of the Trestle bridges
Route length:	20 km
Gauge :	610 mm ( 2 foot track )
Maximum slope :	1:28 = 35  ‰
Legend Kaoota Mine Pelverata Road Thomson Creek Perrin's saddle Platypus Creek McGowans Road Van Morrey Road Hickman's Road 457 m (1,499 ft) above sea level NN Channel Highway Margate Wharf

The Sandfly Colliery Tramway, or Kaoota Tramway, was a 20 kilometer long, narrow gauge railway with a 610 millimeter (2 foot ) gauge that connected the Kaoota Mine to the port of Margate in Tasmania . It was built in 1905-06 to transport coal, crossed ten bridges and reached a height of 457 meters above sea level . After the coal mine was closed, it was used as a forest railway and for freight and passenger transport. The railway line was dismantled in 1922 after wildfire destroyed several wooden bridges along the line. Today, six kilometers are used as a cycling and hiking trail, while the rest of the route is on inaccessible private property.

history

Loading ramp at the coal mine

Loading ramp at the port

The track was built in 1906 by the Sandfly Colliery Company. In 1904 35 tons of rails, a steam locomotive and 47 wagons were purchased from the builders, Messrs. Henrickson and Knutson of Dunalley for 1000 AUD . In 1916 the Tasmanian Wallsend Company owned the railway. It was taken over by the Tasmanian government when coal mining stopped. Between 1917 and 1921 the line was leased to Kingborough Council for local freight traffic before being dismantled in 1922 and transported to the Ida Bay Railway at Catamaran .

route

The route led from the port at Margate over the Channel Highway , Hickman's Road, Van Morrey Road, McGowans Road, Perrins Saddle, Thomson Creek and Pelverata Road. It had a maximum gradient of 1:28 between Channel Highway and Hickmans Road.

Rail vehicles

There were two Krauss tank locomotives imported from Europe .

The 2-4-0T Krauss locomotive with the serial number 4526 from the year of construction 1902 was acquired by Messrs. Hendrickson and Knutson and was delivered to the coal mine in 1906. It was later sold on to the Catamaran Colliery Company and was given a general overhaul in 1940 with spare parts from the Krauss locomotive number 4080.

The other 2-4-0T Krauss locomotive with serial number 5682 from 1906 was a bit heavier. It weighed ten tons, had 9 × 12 inch cylinders and 24 inch drive wheel diameter. It was delivered brand new to the coal mine in 1907 by Krauss' sales representative Lohmann Brothers in Melbourne and was given the number 1. After 1914 it was the only locomotive in the coal mine.

After a conflagration, locomotive number 5682 was parked on the open track in January 1920 because the rebuilding of the burned wooden bridge would have been too expensive. A woodshed was built on the spot to protect it from the elements. When the line was dismantled to this point in June 1922, it was brought to Margate over a track temporarily laid around the burned down bridge. It was sold to the Electrona Carbide Works for use on the Ida Bay Railway . It is now on the Redwater Creek Steam Railway in Sheffield , Tasmania.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Kaoota Tramway Track . Kingborough Council . Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 1, 2013. 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Kaoota Tramway . Greater Hobart Trails. 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
3. ↑ Untitled , The Mercury. October 10, 1904. Retrieved March 1, 2013. 
4. ↑ Untitled , The Mercury. December 16, 1904. Retrieved March 1, 2013. 
5. ↑ Quoted in the Channel Heritage Museum, Margate, Tasmania
6. ↑ Untitled , The Mercury. June 12, 1922. Retrieved March 1, 2013. 
7. ^ Whitham LS, The Sandfly Coalmine and Tramway, 1974, quoted in the Channel Heritage Museum, Margate, Tasmania.
8. ↑ Light Railways (No. 157) . Australia's magazine of industrial and narrow gauge railways. 2001. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
9. ^ Rolling Stock . Redwater creek steam railway. 2013. Archived from the original on April 24, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 1, 2013.