The Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway was a private tram line from Cairns to the Mulgrave River in Queensland, Australia. It was built until 1897 to serve the Mulgrave Central Sugar Mill, built in 1895. The line, which led through difficult terrain including dense jungle, was built by the Cairns Divisional Board, later renamed Cairns Shire Council, at a cost of £15,319. The line originally ran from Cairns to Nelson, later renamed Gordonvale. In 1898 it was extended to Aloomba, and in 1910 it was finally extended to Babinda, over a length of . The end point in Cairns was between Spence and Bunda Street, adjacent to the Queensland Government's Cairns railway station, with which the line was connected by a short distance.Gerhard Rohn: Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway. Sammlerring Australia e.V., 115/2015.
The line was officially opened on 3 May 1897 with an excursion from Cairns to Nelson. Initially, the Cairns Divisional Board had only one small locomotive, built in 1879 in Philadelphia, USA, and a second locomotive was added in 1898. In the beginning, passenger coaches and good carriages were rented from the Queensland Government until the company acquired its own stock from Phoenix Engineering Co and Shillito & Sons, both based in Ipswich. Later, ten F wagons and five H wagons and two wooden wagons were bought from the Toowoomba Foundry Company. In the year up to 30 June 1899, the tramway carried 54,996 passengers and 71,688 tonnes of freight. The service was so successful that a payment of £892 was made to the government. On 1 July 1911, the Queensland Government bought the line and integrated it into Queensland Rail.
History Planning The formation of the Mulgrave Central Mill Company Ltd in November 1893 under the provisions of the Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1893 gave rise to the idea that a fourteen miles long tramway with a gauge of 2 ft should be constructed by the board from Cairns to the Mulgrave River. The mill company was registered on 20 April 1895. In May, Mr O. Phillips, at the request of the board, inspected the proposed route and reported upon the proposal. His recommendation that the normal railway gauge of the colony should be adopted was agreed to, and it was decided to retain his services as consulting engineer for the purposes of the tramway. Towards the end of May the survey was commenced, following, wherever practicable, existing roads of the division. In July the survey was completed to the Mulgrave, the minimum curve being 10 chains (201 m) radius, and the steepest gradient 1 in 82½.
Construction
The board having complied with the regulations and provisions of the various Local Government Acts, and having arranged for a loan from the government, tenders were invited for the construction of the line to the Mulgrave, and that of Messrs. Kirk Brothers and Frew (£15,319 13s.) was accepted by the board, and the work was satisfactorily completed towards the end of April 1897. The line was entirely unfenced, but in other respects, the usual railway practice of the colony has been followed, except that the formation is only 12 ft. wide, whilst soil ballast has been chiefly used. Several of the bridges also were low-level.
The average cost per mile open, for construction only, to 30 June 1898. including two miles of mixed gauge, was £1827. In order to facilitate the operations of the Mulgrave Central Mill Company, the board consented to lay two miles of mixed gauge, thus enabling the mill company's narrow gauge locomotives to haul cane and firewood over the board's tramway from 11¾ miles to the mill. A similar arrangement was made for about 1½ miles on the Aloomba extension.
Inauguration
The first section, in length 13 miles 75 chains 19 links was opened for public traffic on 3 May 1897. At that time the entire rolling stock available for use comprised one 11 inch cylinder locomotive, built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, U.S.A., in 1879(purchased from the Railway Department, Cairns, for the sum of £700), and five second-hand ballast wagons, purchased at Gladstone from the railway contractors Messrs. James Overend & Co for the sum of £125. Subsequently, ten F waggons, five H wagons, and two timber wagons were built for the board by the Toowoomba Foundry Company. A tramcar with seating accommodation for sixty passengers, which had been previously in use on the government lines, was purchased from the Railway Department, in Brisbane for £100. With the assistance of a guard's van and a convertible car, the latter was exclusively for indigenous passengers — hired from the Railway Department, together with other passenger and goods stock hired from the department as occasion demanded, the board was enabled to cope with the rapidly increasing traffic in the first year in a fairly satisfactory manner. The total cost of the board's rolling-stock in use to 30 June 1898, was £2879 8s. 8d., equal to £206 11s. per mile open.
The Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway was the first public tramway in Australia. The line from Cairns to Aloomba was initially 17 miles long. It had the same gauge as the Queensland Government Railways (3 ft 6 in) and used the same rails. Thus all rolling stock was interchangeable. The first engine and carriages were purchased from the government, and government carriages were frequently hired, when the rush of passenger traffic overwhelmed the tramway's resources.
The train only stopped by signal to take on passengers or parcels, with the passengers wishing to alight giving notice to the guard at the preceding station.
First extension In consequence of the subdivision and planting with cane of a large area of rich scrub land on the southern side of the Mulgrave River, in connection with the proposed Aloomba Central Mill, which, however, eventually fell through, the board decided to extend the tramway across the river as far as the main Russell road, a distance of 3 miles 61 chains. Subsequently, the cane farmers on the Aloomba Estate arranged with the board to carry some 30,000 tons of cane from Aloomba to the Colonial Refining Company's mill at Hambledon, a distance of about twelve miles, at the rate of 10d. per ton for the first year, the company at the same time agreeing with the board to construct at their own cost a branch line about 2 miles in length on a gauge of 3 ft. 6 in. to connect their mill with the tramway.
In July 1897, the board entered into a contract for the construction of two low-level timber bridges, having a total length of 660 ft. at the tramway crossing of the Mulgrave River. The bridges were built entirely with Southern timber. On 1 April 1898, the construction of the Aloomba extension was commenced from the southern bank of the river, and, with the exception of the Mulgrave Bridge, was carried out by day labour, being complete and opened for traffic in August, 1898.
Although the road was chiefly ballasted with soil, and was entirely unfenced, thus exposing the formation to the free passage of cattle and horses, no difficulty has been experienced in maintaining a fair top on the rail road, sufficiently good for the maximum speed allowed. Stone ballast has been put on the rail road during maintenance as it appeared advisable, but the total quantity thus put out in the first year (exclusive of 1500 yards used in construction) did not exceed 700 cubic yards. Although the wet season was fairly heavy (78.311 in. between 1 December 1897 and 30 April 1898), the traffic was not interrupted in any way.
On the extension to Aloomba a siding was laid in the bed of the Mulgrave River from which an ample supply of clean coarse sand and shingle, suitable for ballast, was obtainable. This ballast could be put out on the rail road at an average cost of 2s. 6d. per cubic yard. As opportunity offers, the line was gradually reballasted with this material.
Maintenance and operation The total mileage maintained to 30 June 1898, was 15.027 miles, including sidings, and the total expenditure on maintenance for the whole period of one year and fifty-nine days was £917 os. 8d., equal to £65 15s. 8d. per mile of main line only for the whole period, and £56 12s. 8d. per mile of main line only for the twelve months that ended on 30 June 1898. The cost per train mile for the whole period was 9¼d.
With the exception of the sum of £886 16s. expended on the Mulgrave Bridge and approaches out of a sum of £1500 granted for that purpose by the government, the whole of the capital account consiste of money borrowed from the government under the provisions of the Local Works Loans Act 1880. Including the £886 16s. above referred to, the total capital on 30 June 1898, amounted to £44,281. The revenue derived from the working of the tramway from the opening of the first section on 3 May 1897 to 30 June 1898, a period of one year and 59 days, was as follows: Passengers: £2504 Goods and miscellaneous: £2874 Total: £5878 Deduct working expenses: £3424 Net revenue: £1953
The percentage of working expenses to revenue was 63.67, and of net revenue to capital expended on open line 6.89 for the whole period. After payments of interest to the Treasury, in addition to working expenses, the revenue balance on 30 June 1898, was £696. On 30 June 1899 the total capital amounted to £52,572 14s. 4d., the expenditure from which has been £50,220, leaving an unexpended balance to the credit of the Tramway Loan Fund of £2352, this amount not having been drawn from the Treasury on that date. Interest actually paid by the board up to 30 June 1899 amounted to £2969, and redemption to £892. The total revenue has been £14,967, and the net revenue £5344.
The percentage of working expenses to revenue for the twelve months was £64.64, and for the whole period during which the tramway has been working, £64.29; in other words, every £100 earned by the tramway from the date of opening on the 3rd May, 1897, to 30 June 1899, cost £64 5s. 10¾d. The percentage of net revenue to capital expended on open line for the twelve months ended 30 June last is £6 18s. 1½d., as compared with £5 18s. 8d. for the previous twelve months. After deducting working expenses and payments to the Treasury on account of interest and redemption, the revenue balance for the twelve months ended on 30 June 1899 was £735.
Second year of operation 54,996 passengers were carried in twelve months up to 30 June 1899. The receipts from passenger fares amounted to £3013, an increase of £508 as compared with the period of one year and fifty-nine days ended on 8 June 1898. The average fare paid by the 54,996 passengers carried was 13.16d. The coaching traffic amounted to 31.4 per cent of the gross revenue, as compared with 46.6 per cent for the period previous to 30 June 1898.
There was seating accommodation for 180 passengers, but there were times when this was insufficient, and two composite passenger cars were built by the Phoenix Engineering Company, of Ipswich. They had plain but suitable accommodation for about 20 first-class and 35 second-class passengers each. They were due for delivery in December 1899.