Moreton Bay Tramway Company

The Moreton Bay Tramroad Company was a private enterprise attempt to establish railways in the new colony of Queensland. It was stillborn.

People

• Coote,
• Stephens,
• Buckley.

• Abraham Fitzgibbon engineer, who was assistant to William Doyne on the Dun Mountain Tramway in Nelson, New Zealand.

Land Grant Railway

It had been proposed to fund it as a Land Grant Railway. ^[1]

Horse power

The tramway was intended to be operated by horses. ^[2]

Characteristics

• ^[3]

Gradients

The later railway along the route of the tramway has ruling gradients of 1 in 50. This might be rather steep for horse operation, unless unloaded in uphill direction.

Rails

The line was originally to use 35 pounds per yard (17 kg/m) rail.

Nomenclature

The Tramway company is sometimes called a Tramroad.

Timeline

1859

• Queensland separated from New South Wales on 6 June 1859. Some very preliminary railway plans had been prepared by the New South Wales Government which were handed over to the new Queensland Government.

1860

• April – An early mention in a political platform of the need for railways or tramways in Queensland. ^[4]
• April – An early mention of the constructing firm of Moreton, Peto and Brassey. ^[5]
• November – An advertisement for the company's prospectus in a Sydney newspaper. ^[6]
• November – An advertisement for the company's prospectus in a Brisbane paper. ^[7]

1862

• April – coal deposits reported next to the proposed route. ^[8]
• 29 May – Tramway assets taken over by Government. ^{[9] [10]}

1863

• Insolvent Court ^[11]
• 9 May – the Government Railways Bill repeals the Tramway Act, except for court actions already in action. ^[12]
• 20 August – Railway Bill in parliament ^[13]

1865

• 29 March 1865 – three large shareholder taken to Supreme Court for not paying calls on contributing shares. ^[14]

The three are:

• Coote,
• Stephens,
• Buckley.

References

1. "Advertising". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 11 April 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
2. "Advertising". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 11 April 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
3. "The Courier". The Courier (Brisbane) . XVIII (1826). Queensland, Australia. 31 December 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2021– via National Library of Australia.
4. "Classified Advertising". The Moreton Bay Courier . Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 17 April 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
5. "Colonial Parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 25 April 1860. p. 5. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
6. "Sydney News". The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser . NSW: National Library of Australia. 8 November 1860. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
7. "Classified Advertising". The Moreton Bay Courier . Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 10 November 1860. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
8. "Advertising". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 5 April 1862. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
9. "Latest Intelligence". North Australian and Queensland General Advertiser . Ipswich, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 29 May 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
10. "Latest Intelligence". North Australian and Queensland General Advertiser . Ipswich, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 29 May 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
11. "Queensland". The Mercury . Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 2 January 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
12. "The Government Railway Bill". The Courier (Brisbane) . Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 9 May 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
13. "The Railway Bill". The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser . Toowoomba, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 20 August 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
14. "Queensland". The Mercury . Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 29 March 1865. p. 3. Retrieved 8 September 2012.