The Melba railway line is a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

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 Lye ...

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

Burnie Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...

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

, 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 Rosebery and Queenstown. History The greater Zeehan a ...

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

History

In the 1870s, the Van Diemen's Land Company engaged John 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 The mountain was named in t ...

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

Waratah Australia’s famous waratah (genus ''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 (Australia), Victoria, and Tasmania). The be ...

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 of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

rails Rail or rails may refer to: Rail transport *Rail transport and related matters * Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway Arts and media Film * ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini * ''Rail'' (1967 fi ...

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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s to operate. In 1897, the

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, Tasmania, West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. The highway runs generally north–south, with Somerset, Tasmania, Somerset, near Burnie, as its northern terminus and Zeehan ...

, 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 establi ...

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 fo ...

and integrated into its

Tasrail TasRail (legal name Tasmanian Railway Pty Limited) is a Tasmanian Government state-owned enterprise that has operated the Rail transport in Tasmania, mainline railways in Tasmania since September 2009. It operates only freight services. Histo ...

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, jointly owned by the Government of Australia, Federal, Governm ...

, and was purchased by the newly established government-owned

TasRail TasRail (legal name Tasmanian Railway Pty Limited) is a Tasmanian Government state-owned enterprise that has operated the Rail transport in Tasmania, mainline railways in Tasmania since September 2009. It operates only freight services. Histo ...

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, England, around south-west 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 nam ...

- 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 The Magnet Tramway, often found referred to as the Magnet Tram, was a gauge railway in north west Tasmania.It ran between Magnet Junction on the Guildford, Tasmania, Guildford to Mount Bischoff railway line, and the Magnet mine. History Th ...

) *Muddy Creek *Bulgobac *Boko *Farrell Junction with the North Mount Farrell Tramway to

Tullah Tullah is a town in the northern part of the West Coast Range, on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia, about 111 km south of Burnie. The town has a population of approximately 202 people. Town The town is roughly divided into two "subu ...

, now known as the Wee Georgie Wood Railway *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 ...

*Argent Tunnel *

**Junction with the North East Dundas Tramway to Montezuma and Williamsford on the southern slopes of Mount Read *Rayna Junction - junction with the ''Maestris'' or Mount Dundas – Zeehan Railway *

Beyond Zeehan the Tasmanian Government Railways line continued to Regatta Point 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

Notes

References

Further reading