Messrs. Smyth Brothers' Tramway was from 1897 to 1908 a

bush tramway A bush tram and line-side log hauler owned by the Tamaki Sawmill Co., Raurimu. Photographed by Albert Percy Godber circa 1917. In New Zealand railway terminology a bush tramway is an industrial tramway, most commonly used for logging. They are ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

.''New Zealand Geared Locomotives. Locomotive Owners: A & G Price Ltd., Thames.''
/ref>

Operation

Smyth Bros. owned around 1900 a logging operation using a steam tramway at

Kennedy's Bay Kennedy Bay (also called Kennedy's Bay and Harataunga) is a locality in the north eastern Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand. The Harataunga and Omoho Streams flow from the Coromandel Range past the settlement and into the bay to the east. Ther ...

on the north-east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, a few miles north of Mercury Bay.''Kennedy's Bay.''
The Auckland Weekly News, 4 June 1898, p. 3. File:A timber clearing by Smyth Bros. (photo by Henry Winkelmann, Auckland Weekly News, 4 June 1898, p.3).jpg, A timber clearing, 1898 File:A fine bullock team of Smyth Bros. (photo by Henry Winkelmann, Auckland Weekly News, 4 June 1898, p.3).jpg, A fine bullock team, 1898 File:Kauri logs ready for shipment to the mill of Smyth Bros. (photo by Henry Winkelmann, Auckland Weekly News, 4 June 1898, p.3).jpg, Kauri logs ready for shipment to the mill

Locomotive

The

0-4-0ST Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were c ...

saddle tank steam locomotive was the first locomotive built in 1885 by A & G Price of

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

.Anne Stewart Ball
''Language of Timber Industry early NZ.''
25 January 2014. Retrieved on 24 April 2018. It was a geared locomotive with two cylinders arranged horizontally which drove the axles through spur gears. It had originally been ordered by civil engineer James Stewart to be used on the Waiorongomai or Piako County Tramway, but the deal fell through. The locomotive was instead used from 1886 to 1894 by Mander & Bradley in Pukekaroro. Smyth Brothers tendered subsequently successfully for the locomotive and used it from 1897 to 1908 at Kennedy Bay, before it was sold in 1908 to the governmental Public Works Department as PWD # 511 for railway construction at Picton and

Otira Otira is a small township fifteen kilometres north of Arthur's Pass in the central South Island of New Zealand. It is on the northern approach to the pass, a saddle between the Otira and Bealey Rivers high in the Southern Alps. A possible meani ...

, and finally scrapped in 1917.

Gold Rush

Gold has been frequently found at Kennedy's Bay. In 1904, Smyth Bros. found gold in one of their driving streams, Omoho Creek, exposed by the action of the floating kauri logs about 4 miles north of the Royal Oak Mine. By driving timber down the Omoho Creek towards Kennedy Bay the creek channel had been scoured clean, thus revealing many fine reefs and leaders. The leader discovered crossed the creek in north-southerly direction. Strong gold was visible in the stone for over , the size of the reef being up to in thickness, so that an experienced prospector was contracted to retrieve the gold.Telegraph's own correspondent: ''The Goldfields. Exalt Claim.'' {{PD-notice Re-published in
''Kennedy Bay lumber operations reveal gold deposits.''
Coromandel Life, Late Spring/Holiday 2014, p. 14. Retrieved on 24 April 2018.

References

Railway companies of New Zealand Logging railways in New Zealand Narrow gauge railways in New Zealand Coromandel Peninsula