North Mount Lyell Railway

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The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to service the North Mount Lyell mine in West Coast Tasmania at the start of the Twentieth Century to take ore from Gormanston to the Crotty smelters, and then on to Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour, from where it was shipped out.

The North Mount Lyell Railway had exceptionally easy grades compared to its competitor the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company which ran its Abt rack system railway through very steep grades from Queenstown to Regatta Point.

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, and was closed in the 1920s. The line was serviced by a small rail motor similar to that on the Lake Margaret Tram in the last years of operation

The railway bridge at the King River and the old rail formation were utilised right up to the damming of the River and the creation of Lake Burbury by the Hydro Electric Commission in the 1980s. The railway formation between the Linda Valley and the old locality of Darwin is now under water.

1 Dates
2 Stopping Places
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Dates

Opened for passengers 15th December 1900. Taken over by the Mount Lyell Company 16th July 1903. Passenger services ended July 1924. Line closed in 1929.

[edit] Stopping Places

Gormanston (branch from Linda 1900-1903 only)
Linda
Crotty -- previous name King River until 1902
Crotty Smelters (siding)
Darwin
Ten Mile
Pillinger (Kelly Basin)

[edit] References

Atkinson, H.K. (1991). Railway Tickets of Tasmania. ISBN 0-9598718-7-X.
Rae, Lou. The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region. Sandy Bay: Lou Rae. ISBN 0-9592098-7-5.
Whitham, Charles. Western Tasmania - A land of riches and beauty, Reprint 2003, Queenstown: Municipality of Queenstown.
Whitham, Lindsay. Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research. Sandy Bay: Tasmanian Historical Research Association. ISBN 0-909479-21-6.