The Melba Line is a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard-gauge railway, standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum r ...

on the West Coast of Tasmania. The line was originally constructed as a private railway line named the

Emu Bay Railway The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyell ...

and was one of the longest-lasting and most successful private railway companies in Australia. While at present the line travels from

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popul ...

Melba Flats Melba Flats is a railway siding on the Emu Bay Railway east of Zeehan that served as a terminus for trains carrying copper ore from the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in west coast Tasmania, once the Emu Bay Railway ceased services into ...

, it previously ran through to

Zeehan Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater ...

carrying minerals and passengers as an essential service for the West Coast community.

History

In the 1870s, the

Van Diemen's Land Company The Van Diemen's Land Company (also known as Van Dieman Land Company) is a farming corporation in the Australian state of Tasmania. It was founded in 1825 and received a royal charter the same year, and was granted 250,000 acres (1,000 km2) ...

engaged John C. Climie to undertake a survey of a line from near

Mount Bischoff Mount Bischoff is a mountain and former tin mine in the north-western region of Tasmania, Australia. The mountain is situated adjacent to Savage River National Park near the town of Waratah. Location and features Tin was discovered at Mount B ...

. On 1 February 1878, a , horse-drawn wooden tramway opened from Emu Bay (Burnie) to Rouse's Camp, near

Waratah Waratah (''Telopea'') is an Australian-endemic genus of five species of large shrubs or small trees, native to the southeastern parts of Australia (New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania). The best-known species in this genus is ''Telopea speci ...

to serve the

tin mines. In 1887, the line was taken over by the Emu Bay to Mount Bischoff Railway Company and relaid with

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

rails Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters *Rail (rail transport) or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' ( ...

as gauge railway line to allow

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s to operate. In 1897, the

Company took over the line, extending it 60 kilometres to

on 21 December 1900. Following the opening of the

Murchison Highway The Murchison Highway is a highway located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The highway runs generally north–south, with Somerset, near Burnie, as its northern terminus and Zeehan as its southern terminus. The highway was ...

, the line was closed between Rosebery and Zeehan in August 1965. After being sold in 1967 to

EZ Industries EZ Industries, formerly the Electrolytic Zinc Company, was a zinc miner and refiner in Australia. History EZ Industries was established in 1916 by Amalgamated Zinc as the Electrolytic Zinc Company to operate the Risdon Zinc Works on the banks ...

, the line was upgraded to carry heavier trains and reopened in January 1970 from Rosebery to

. During the construction of the Pieman River hydro electric scheme in the late 1970s, the line was diverted in places and new bridges were built. The Melba Line was included in the October 1984 sale of EZ Industries to North Broken Hill Peko, which merged with CRA Limited to form

Pasminco Pasminco was an Australian mining company founded in 1988. It was placed in voluntary administration in September 2001 with its assets sold in stages until 2004 when the remaining assets were spun-off to Zinifex. History Pasminco was establish ...

in 1988. In 1989, an 11-kilometre branch opened from Moorey Junction to serve Aberfoyle's Hellyer Mine. On 22 May 1998, the line was sold by Pasminco to the

Australian Transport Network Australian Transport Network (ATN) was a freight railway operator in Australia that commenced operating in November 1997. The company operated narrow gauge trains in Tasmania and standard gauge trains in New South Wales and Victoria. It was form ...

and integrated into its

Tasrail TasRail is the trading name of Tasmanian Railway Proprietary Limited, a Tasmanian Government state-owned enterprise that has operated the mainline railways in Tasmania since September 2009. It operates only freight services. History Establis ...

business. In February 2004, it was included in the sale of Tasrail to

Pacific National Pacific National is one of Australia's largest rail freight businesses. History In February 2002, National Rail Corporation, National Rail's freight operations and rollingstock (owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Government of New ...

, and was purchased by the newly established government-owned

TasRail TasRail is the trading name of Tasmanian Railway Proprietary Limited, a Tasmanian Government state-owned enterprise that has operated the mainline railways in Tasmania since September 2009. It operates only freight services. History Establis ...

in September 2009.

Stopping places

At its peak as a steam operation, the railway had approximately 23 stopping or named places (including names for watering locations and other passenger operation related points) on its line and adjacent lines: *

*Pigeon Hill *Ridgley *Highclere *Hampshire *Ringwood *Toronna *Wey River Bridge *

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

- junction to the

tin mine ** Rouse's Camp (Mount Bischoff branch line) ** Magnet Junction (Mount Bischoff branch line) **

(Mount Bischoff branch line) **Mount Magnet ( Magnet Tramway) *Muddy Creek *Bulgobac *Boko *Farrell Junction with the North Mount Farrell Tramway to Tullah, now known as the

Wee Georgie Wood Railway The Wee Georgie Wood Railway is a narrow gauge tourist tramway running from Tullah, on a http://www.weegeorgiewood.com.au/history.html (most other sources say 1.6km) short track by the edge of Lake Rosebery in the West Coast Municipality of T ...

*Primrose *Barkers Crossing * Rosebery *

Renison Bell Renison Bell is an underground tin mine and locality on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. History In 1890, tin-bearing gossan was found near Argent River by George Renison Bell. He claimed land and formed the Renison Bell Prospecting Asso ...

*Argent Tunnel *

**Junction with the

North East Dundas Tramway The North East Dundas Tramway was a Narrow-gauge railway, narrow gauge tramway (industrial), tramway, that ran between Zeehan and Deep Lead (now Williamsford, Tasmania, Williamsford) on the West Coast, Tasmania, West Coast of Tasmania. Opening ...

to Montezuma and Williamsford on the southern slopes of Mount Read *Rayna Junction - junction with the ''Maestris'' or

Mount Dundas – Zeehan Railway The Mount Dundas – Zeehan Railway (also known as the Maestris Tram) was a railway line running from Dundas to Zeehan on the West Coast of Tasmania. It operated from 1892 until 1932, and the rails were removed in 1940. Operation It was bui ...

Beyond Zeehan the Tasmanian Government Railways line continued to

Regatta Point Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour (West Coast, Tasmania). Port Regatta Point is often assumed into the name of the locality across the bay in Macquarie Harbour, Strahan, Tasmania. The other ports ...

to connect with the Mount Lyell line to Queenstown.

Notes

References

* * * * {{cite book, author=Lou Rae, author-link=Lou Rae, title=The Emu Bay Railway, year=1997, isbn=0-9592098-6-7

History

Stopping places

See also

Notes

References

Further reading