Zeehan railway station in Tasmania, was a major junction and railway yard for numerous different railway and tramway systems in western Tasmania in the town of Zeehan.
Its peak of operations was between the 1890s and the late 1920s – reflecting the general fate of the town and the industries that were located in the Zeehan and surrounding districts.
It was the terminus of the Strahan–Zeehan Railway from the south, the Emu Bay Railway from the north and a number of narrow gauge tram systems that utilised the railway yard and radiated out in all directions from the station. [1]
The narrow gauge North East Dundas Tramway line proceeded separately out of the station and yard following the Emu Bay railway alignment, before it turned toward its easterly route.
The government railway that linked the Mount Lyell railway to the Emu Bay, and then to Burnie was an important part of the government railway system. The government looked to improve the facilities over time while the railways were carrying optimum freight loads. [2]
In 1913 the railway workshops were moved from West Strahan to Zeehan and the yard, over half a mile long, with two gauges and many sidings, was one of the biggest in the state [3]
The Zeehan railway station yard was extensive with numerable small tram lines connecting with the yard in the peak of the activity at the station from before the First World War until the beginning of the depression – when most smaller tramways and mines and smelter operations had ceased to operate.
A map by C.C. Singleton of the Australian Railway Historical Society in Bulletin 289 November 1961, and in Bulletin 312, October 1963 offer an understanding of the yard layout: [4] [5]
Tramways mentioned here specifically utilised the Zeehan railway station as their terminus.
A spectacular boiler explosion occurred at 7.15 am on 17 May 1899 in the Zeehan railway station yard. [13] The North-East Dundas tram approached the Wilson Street waiting room at the end of the station yard, the engine exploded. The fireman Thomas Marra was killed instantly and the driver David Biddulph [14] died soon after. [15] [16]
In 1971, Frank Stamford of The Light Railway Research Society of Australia wrote in Light Railways:
A visit on 12th April 1971 showed that the station building has gone, and most of the track has been rather half-heartedly removed. A length of 2 ft gauge track can still be found near where the station building used to be. The various engine sheds and carriage sheds remain, and are still being used by local timber millers, transport contractors, etc. [19]
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia 139 kilometres (86 mi) south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan and neighbouring mining towns of Rosebery and Queenstown.
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour.
The Melba Line is a 1,067 mm narrow-gauge railway on the West Coast of Tasmania. The line was originally constructed as a private railway line named the Emu Bay Railway and was one of the longest-lasting and most successful private railway companies in Australia. While at present the line travels from Burnie to Melba Flats, it previously ran through to Zeehan carrying minerals and passengers as an essential service for the West Coast community.
The North Mount Lyell disaster refers to a fire that broke out on 12 October 1912 at the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company operations on the West Coast of Tasmania, killing 42 miners. The mine had been taken over from the North Mount Lyell Company in 1903.
The North East Dundas Tramway was a 2 ft narrow gauge tramway, that ran between Zeehan and Deep Lead on the West Coast of Tasmania. Opening in 1896 and closing in 1932, it was part of the Tasmanian Government Railways network. The world's first Garratt locomotives, the K class, were used on the line.
The Lake Margaret Tram was located on the western side of Mount Sedgwick in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania in service for the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company to the Lake Margaret community.
Comstock Tram refers to three different tramways in the West Coast Tasmania, Australia
Linda Valley is a valley in the West Coast Range of Tasmania. It was earlier known as the Vale of Chamouni. It is located between Mount Owen and Mount Lyell.
The history of the railways on the West Coast of Tasmania has fascinated enthusiasts from around the world, because of the combination of the harsh terrain in which the railways were created, and the unique nature of most of the lines.
The Strahan–Zeehan Railway, also known as the "Government Railway", was a railway from Strahan to Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania.
Mount Dundas is a mountain located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated at the north west edge of the West Coast Range.
The Wee Georgie Wood Railway is a 2 ft narrow gauge tourist tramway running from Tullah, on a 1.9 km (1.2 mi) short track by the edge of Lake Rosebery in the West Coast Municipality of Tasmania.
The Mount Dundas – Zeehan Railway was a railway line running 7 miles (11 km) from Dundas to Zeehan on the West Coast of Tasmania. It operated from 1892 until 1932, and the rails were removed in 1940.
Dundas was a historical mining locality, mineral field and railway location on the western foothills of the West Coast Range in Western Tasmania. It is now part of the locality of Zeehan.
Williamsford, Tasmania is the location of a former mining community, south of Rosebery, Tasmania and on the western lower reaches of Mount Read.
The Hercules Haulage, also known as the Mount Read Haulage, the Hercules Tram and the Williamsford Haulage Line, was a self-acting 2 ft narrow gauge tramway on the side of Mount Read in Western Tasmania, that connected the Hercules Mine with Williamsford and then to the North East Dundas Tramway.
Philosophers Ridge is the long spur that connects Mount Lyell and Mount Owen in the West Coast Range of Western Tasmania.
Zeehan Highway is a road between Zeehan and Queenstown in Western Tasmania.
The term Mount Lyell Railway was one of the terms used for the railway operated by the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company between 1899 and 1963.