The Convict Tramway
was hauled by human power: convicts from the
Port Arthur convict settlement.
and was created to replace the hazardous sea voyage from
Hobart to
Port Arthur, Tasmania
Port Arthur is a town and former convict settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, in Tasmania, Australia. It is located approximately southeast of the state capital, Hobart.
The site forms part of the Australian Convict Sites, a World Heritag ...
.
oversaw the construction of the tramway.
It opened in 1836 and ran for 8 km (5 miles) from Oakwood to
Taranna
Taranna is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Tasman in the South-east LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about north-east of the town of Nubeena. The 2016 census recorded a population of 156 for the state suburb of ...
.
By most definitions, the tramway was the first passenger-carrying railway/tramway in
Australia.
An unconfirmed report says that it continued to
Eaglehawk Neck and, if this was so, the length of the tramway would have been more than doubled. The gauge is unknown. The tramway carried passengers and freight (with a capacity of one half-ton), and ran on wooden rails. The track was not levelled but followed the natural elevation of the ground; on descending a hill the runners were permitted to ride on the vehicle. One team of convicts—usually three in number—could complete up to three round trips per day, carrying freight in both directions. If proving themselves trustworthy the men were eventually rewarded with permission to access less restricted part of the colony. A sketch by Col. Mundy, which is held in the
Tasmanian Archives, shows four convicts providing the motive power. The date of closure is unknown, but it was certainly prior to 1877.
[John Yonge, ''Australian Railway Atlas: No.1 -Tasmania'', Quail Map Company, Exeter U.K., 2004]
References
{{Reflist
History of transport in Tasmania