The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to operate between the

North Mount Lyell North Mount Lyell was the name of a mine, mining company, locality (sometimes as North Lyell) and former railway north of Gormanston on the southern slopes of Mount Lyell in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania, and on to the r ...

mine in

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and Pillinger in the

Kelly Basin Kelly Basin is a bay on the south eastern side of Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania. It was named after James Kelly an early explorer of the Tasmanian coastline. It was the location of the terminus of the North Mount Lyell Rai ...

Macquarie Harbour Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by th ...

History

At the start of the Twentieth century it was constructed to take ore from Gormanston east of the

West Coast Range The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The range lies to the west and north of the main parts of the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. The range has had a significant number ...

to the Crotty smelters. From there it was be shipped out at Kelly Basin. The North Mount Lyell Railway had exceptionally easy grades compared to its competitor the

Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as ''Mount Lyell''. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in ...

which ran its

Abt rack system A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with ...

railway through very steep grades from Queenstown 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 ...

Design challenge

The railway route ran across a belt of

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

terrain in the area near the current

Darwin Dam The Darwin Dam is an offstream earthfill embankment saddle dam without a spillway, located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The impounded reservoir, also formed by Crotty Dam, is called Lake Burbury. The dam was constructed in 1990 by the Hyd ...

– and the engineers of the 1890s were possibly the first in Australia to have designed for the possibility of

sinkholes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

when planning the route.

Operation

The line was opened for passengers 15 December 1900, and was taken over by the

on 16 July 1903. In December 1900, when J.F. Anderson was Chief Superintendent, timetabling had: * Kelly Basin to Linda leaving 8.30 a.m. and 1.45 p.m. * Linda to Kelly Basin leaving at 11.00 a.m. and 4.15 p.m. Stopping points were Gormanston junction, King River and Ten Mile. In August 1901, when J.J. Ware was the traffic manager, timetabling for passengers was restricted to one train a day from each end of the line. * Linda - departure 10 a.m. * Kelly Basin - departure 9.20 a.m. The two trains met at Smelters Junction, with the Linda train leaving at 1.30 p.m. and the Kelly Basin train leaving at 2.45 p.m. The later years of operation of the line a small rail motor was utilised, similar to that on the

Lake Margaret Tram 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. Construction By 1903 ...

in the last years of operation. Due to failure of the Crotty smelters and the North Mount Lyell operations in general, and the amalgamation of the Mount Lyell and North Mount Lyell mines and companies, the railway had a short operational life. It closed to passengers in July 1924 and closed in 1929.

Locomotives

The railway utilised three Avonside Engines: :: ''J.Crotty'' (No.1)(AE 1392/1899), ::''JP Lonergan'' (No.2)(AE 1393/1899) :: ''DJ Mackay'' (No.3)(AE 1394/1899). It also had three Shay engines: :: Number 4 (Lima 698/1902) – 3 cylinder two truck :: Number 5 (Lima 697/1902) :: Number 6 (Lima 704/1902)

Shipping

The company also had its own ship (the SS North Lyell) in its service which transported rolling stock to Kelly Basin

After closure

The railway bridge at the King River and the old rail

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondar ...

were utilised right up to the damming of the River and the creation of

Lake Burbury Lake Burbury is a man-made water reservoir created by the Crotty Dam inundating the upper King River valley that lies east of the West Coast Range. Discharge from the reservoir feeds the John Butters Hydroelectric Power Station, owned and op ...

by the

Hydro Electric Commission Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as the Hydro-Electric Commission (HEC) or The Hydro, is the trading name of the Hydro-Electric Corporation, a Government of Tasmania, Tasmanian Government Government-owned corporation, business enterp ...

in the 1980s. The railway formation between the Linda Valley and the old locality of Darwin is now under water. The railway formation between Mount Owen and Mount Jukes was known as the

Kelly Basin Road Kelly Basin Road was a road built on the formation of the former North Lyell Railway in the King River Valley of Western Tasmania. It ran to the east of the West Coast Range, from the Linda Valley, to Kelly Basin. Following the cessation of ...

during the No Dams campaign of December 1982 – and was a location of interaction between members of the Tasmanian Police and protesters.

Access

Considerable parts of the old railway line alignment are now under Lake Burbury or destroyed by the related works. Kelly Basin Road is accessed from Jukes Highway, at one point on the left (gated and locked) a track to one of the sites related to the

Franklin Dam The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of the most significant ...

is located. Kelly Basin Road (the old formation) reaches a bridge, where access is by foot is needed to complete the journey to Kelly Basin. Walking time is 3 to 4 hours one way, but an easy grade.

Stopping Places

* Gormanston (branch from Linda 1900–1903 only) * Linda (also known as North Lyell) * Crotty — previous name King River until 1902 * Crotty Smelters (siding) * Darwin * Ten Mile * Pillinger (Kelly Basin)

Notes

References

* * * Lines, William J. (2006) ''Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage'' St. Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. * * * {{coord missing, Tasmania Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company Mining railways in Australia Closed railway lines in Tasmania 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia West Coast Range Railway lines opened in 1900 Railway lines closed in 1929 1900 establishments in Australia 1929 disestablishments in Australia King River power development scheme