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Stannary Hills Tramways
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Stannary Hills Tramways are a heritage-listed pair of tramways at Irvinebank, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1901 to 1907. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2005.
The Boonmoo-to-Stannary Hills and Stannary Hills-to-Irvinebank tramway formations represent two private tramways constructed between 1901 and 1907 that provided transport for the tin mining fields west of the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland from their construction until 1936. The tramlines are on a 2 feet (0.61 m) gauge, distinct from the standard 3 ft 6 in gauge used on the Queensland government railway of the time. Sleepers and bridge spans were constructed from local timber such as cypress pine, bloodwood and spotted gum. The Boonmoo-to-Stannary Hills section was also known as Dixon's tramway, named after the engineer responsible for the construction of the first tramway.
James Venture Mulligan reported the first tin deposits to the west of Atherton Tablelands in June 1875. Four years later a group of prospectors found tin in the Wild River and pegged the Great Northern Mine in what became the primary township of Herberton. Further tin lodes were found and in 1881 the Great Western Mine opened, followed by Eureka Creek in 1882 and Gibbs Creek in 1883. Prior to the construction of the tramways Cobb and Co provided the only reliable form of transport between the tin mining area west of the Atherton Tableland and the coastal ports of Port Douglas and Cairns. In 1884 the Queensland Government chose Cairns as the coastal terminus for the Tablelands railway to Mareeba across the Great Dividing Range, although the line was not built until 1893. Copper deposits were discovered at Chillagoe/Mungana in 1888 creating renewed calls for increased transport between the coastal ports and the mining areas west of the Atherton Tablelands.
The construction of the 3-foot-6-inch (1.07 m) Cairns to Mungana railway by the Queensland Government in 1893 sparked interest in the Herberton area from a group of Adelaide based mining entrepreneurs. North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation was registered on 20 September 1899 with WH Phillips as chairman and S Dixon as Queensland director. It had capital of £20 000 in £100 shares. The company was particularly interested in the Eureka Creek mines, which had been abandoned by tin workers in the early 1890s due to high transport costs. By October 1900 the company controlled a range of assets including 500 acres of mining leases, 320 acres of freehold, tramway leases, water rights and battery sites at Nigger Creek and Rocky Bluff. The closest siding on the government railway to the Eureka Creek tin fields was Boonmoo, also known as the 35 Mile, at 17°14′48″S 145°04′24″E / 17.24667°S 145.07333°E.
In 1901 North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation was floated to raise the capital to construct the Boonmoo to Stannary Hills tramway. Properties and fixed assets to the Stannary Hills Mines and Tramway Company Limited, an Adelaide-based company with a nominated capital of £650,000. The company was the first to take advantage of the 1900 Amendments to the Mining Act of 1898 which introduced provisions for tramways to carry goods and passengers in addition to mineral traffic, to attract investment in Queensland mining operations. C.T. Stephens was appointed to survey the line and supervise construction of the tramway by Dixon in 1901.
The original line was surveyed from Boonmoo along Eureka Creek to Stannary Hills and terminating at Watsonville. Work began at Boonmoo in early 1901 and reached Stannary Hills in 1902. For several miles construction work offered no major difficulties, but within 4 or 5 miles of Stannary Hills the ranges had to be surmounted, which necessitated cutting around the hills to enable a reasonable grade for the line. After the Boonmoo to Stannary Hills line opened in May 1902, instead of proceeding to Watsonville, it was extended 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) to Rocky Bluff, a battery site on the Walsh River where minerals from the Eureka Creek tin deposits could be processed.
A modern 33 head stamper battery, capable of crushing 100 tons a day, was installed at Rocky Bluff immediately on completion of the line. The battery was known as "Shaking Moses" and was formally opened in May 1903. The tramline finished at the top of a steep incline above the battery. All firewood for the boilers and ore for treatment at the battery were lowered down the inclined tramway with two tracks for a distance of about 600 feet (180 m). Brake control on the trucks was exercised from a platform at the top of the inclined tramway.
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Stannary Hills Tramways
Download coordinates as:
Stannary Hills Tramways are a heritage-listed pair of tramways at Irvinebank, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1901 to 1907. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 25 February 2005.
The Boonmoo-to-Stannary Hills and Stannary Hills-to-Irvinebank tramway formations represent two private tramways constructed between 1901 and 1907 that provided transport for the tin mining fields west of the Atherton Tablelands in north Queensland from their construction until 1936. The tramlines are on a 2 feet (0.61 m) gauge, distinct from the standard 3 ft 6 in gauge used on the Queensland government railway of the time. Sleepers and bridge spans were constructed from local timber such as cypress pine, bloodwood and spotted gum. The Boonmoo-to-Stannary Hills section was also known as Dixon's tramway, named after the engineer responsible for the construction of the first tramway.
James Venture Mulligan reported the first tin deposits to the west of Atherton Tablelands in June 1875. Four years later a group of prospectors found tin in the Wild River and pegged the Great Northern Mine in what became the primary township of Herberton. Further tin lodes were found and in 1881 the Great Western Mine opened, followed by Eureka Creek in 1882 and Gibbs Creek in 1883. Prior to the construction of the tramways Cobb and Co provided the only reliable form of transport between the tin mining area west of the Atherton Tableland and the coastal ports of Port Douglas and Cairns. In 1884 the Queensland Government chose Cairns as the coastal terminus for the Tablelands railway to Mareeba across the Great Dividing Range, although the line was not built until 1893. Copper deposits were discovered at Chillagoe/Mungana in 1888 creating renewed calls for increased transport between the coastal ports and the mining areas west of the Atherton Tablelands.
The construction of the 3-foot-6-inch (1.07 m) Cairns to Mungana railway by the Queensland Government in 1893 sparked interest in the Herberton area from a group of Adelaide based mining entrepreneurs. North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation was registered on 20 September 1899 with WH Phillips as chairman and S Dixon as Queensland director. It had capital of £20 000 in £100 shares. The company was particularly interested in the Eureka Creek mines, which had been abandoned by tin workers in the early 1890s due to high transport costs. By October 1900 the company controlled a range of assets including 500 acres of mining leases, 320 acres of freehold, tramway leases, water rights and battery sites at Nigger Creek and Rocky Bluff. The closest siding on the government railway to the Eureka Creek tin fields was Boonmoo, also known as the 35 Mile, at 17°14′48″S 145°04′24″E / 17.24667°S 145.07333°E.
In 1901 North Queensland Tin Mining Corporation was floated to raise the capital to construct the Boonmoo to Stannary Hills tramway. Properties and fixed assets to the Stannary Hills Mines and Tramway Company Limited, an Adelaide-based company with a nominated capital of £650,000. The company was the first to take advantage of the 1900 Amendments to the Mining Act of 1898 which introduced provisions for tramways to carry goods and passengers in addition to mineral traffic, to attract investment in Queensland mining operations. C.T. Stephens was appointed to survey the line and supervise construction of the tramway by Dixon in 1901.
The original line was surveyed from Boonmoo along Eureka Creek to Stannary Hills and terminating at Watsonville. Work began at Boonmoo in early 1901 and reached Stannary Hills in 1902. For several miles construction work offered no major difficulties, but within 4 or 5 miles of Stannary Hills the ranges had to be surmounted, which necessitated cutting around the hills to enable a reasonable grade for the line. After the Boonmoo to Stannary Hills line opened in May 1902, instead of proceeding to Watsonville, it was extended 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) to Rocky Bluff, a battery site on the Walsh River where minerals from the Eureka Creek tin deposits could be processed.
A modern 33 head stamper battery, capable of crushing 100 tons a day, was installed at Rocky Bluff immediately on completion of the line. The battery was known as "Shaking Moses" and was formally opened in May 1903. The tramline finished at the top of a steep incline above the battery. All firewood for the boilers and ore for treatment at the battery were lowered down the inclined tramway with two tracks for a distance of about 600 feet (180 m). Brake control on the trucks was exercised from a platform at the top of the inclined tramway.