The Beaudesert Shire Tramway was a

narrow gauge 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 Minimum railw ...

tramway which operated from Beaudesert to

Lamington A lamington is an Australian cake made from squares of butter cake or sponge cake coated in an outer layer of chocolate sauce and rolled in desiccated coconut. The thin mixture is absorbed into the outside of the sponge cake and left to set, ...

and

Rathdowney Rathdowney or Rathdowny () is a small town in southwest County Laois, Ireland. It lies some 32 km southwest of Portlaoise in the Irish Midlands, at the point where the R433 regional road from Abbeyleix to Templemore is crossed by the R ...

in the

Scenic Rim Region The Scenic Rim Region is a local government areas of Queensland, local government area (LGA) in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, South East Queensland, Australia, and is located approximately 80 kilometres due south of Brisban ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, It was one of 15 light railways built and operated by Divisional Boards and Shire Councils in Queensland. The line carried passengers and cargo. It operated from 1903 to 1944. It was initially profitable and seen as a great success for the local shire council. The tramway is credited with opening up the agricultural lands of the upper

Logan River The Logan River (Yugambeh dialect, Yugambeh: ''Dugulumba'') is a perennial river in the Scenic Rim Region, Scenic Rim, City of Logan, Logan and City of Gold Coast, Gold Coast local government areas of the South East Queensland, South East region ...

History

The Tabragalba Divisional Board, predecessor of the Beaudesert Shire, proposed the construction of the Tramway in 1899. Approval was granted on 23 October 1901 and the Beaudesert Tramway Committee was formed on 3 March 1902. The Tramway opened from Beaudesert to Innisplain and Lilybank (later renamed Christmas Creek) on 10 October 1903 with Sir Herbert Chermside,

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

, officiating at the opening ceremony at Tabooba Junction. In August 1907, it was decided to extend the line to Rathdowney from Innisplain. At the same shire meeting an extension from Christmas Creek was also agreed upon. In 1910, a loan for the extensions was granted. The Christmas Creek to

extension opened in October 1910 and the Innisplain to Rathdowney extension in March 1911. The total cost of construction was £92,770. In 1918, residents of Urbenville in northern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

unsuccessfully agitated for an extension from Rathdowney to the west of Mount Lindesay. Services ran between Beaudesert and Rathdowney three times per week. The main traffic was timber, dairy produce and livestock which were trans-shipped to the

Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both Commuter rail, suburban and Regional rail, interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well ...

ways Beaudesert line. Early traffic was promising. For example, in the 1905-1906 financial year the Tramway carried 6,712 passengers, of cream, 2,854 pigs, of general merchandise, of other agricultural produce and of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

. During the 1920s the movement of timber was gradually decreasing. The tramway was used to transport postal mail to Rathdowney. Extension of the New South Wales North Coast railway line from

Kyogle Kyogle () is a town in the Northern Rivers region of northern New South Wales, Australia. It falls within the Local government in Australia, local government area of Kyogle Council. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Kyogle had a popu ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

commenced in 1926 and generated additional traffic on the tramway carrying construction materials. This led to considerable delays with services unable to run to the timetable. Rathdowney and nearby towns were served by the interstate line from 1930. Traffic volume on the line experienced significant decreases starting from this time. Following the "encroachment" of the standard gauge line and increasing competition from road transport, the Shire approached the

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...

to take over the Tramway but the Minister for Railways declined. With declining traffic, the Tramway ceased operations on 30 Sep 1944. The rails and rolling stock were sold, and the Beaudesert Tramway Committee was abolished on 31 December 1945.

Queensland State Archives The Queensland State Archives is the lead agency for public recordkeeping in Queensland, Australia. It is the custodian of the largest and most significant documentary heritage collection about Queensland. Established in 1959, Queensland Stat ...

Agency ID10855, Beaudesert Tramway Committee

Route

See map
Beaudesert Tramway 1935
* Main line ** Beaudesert ** Josephville ** Laravale ** Tabooba * East branch ** Christmas Creek (formerly Lilybank) ** Hillview **

* West branch ** Innisplain ** Dulbolla ( Running Creek) **

Locomotives

Rolling stock

The Tramway owned locomotives, passenger carriages capable of carrying 70 people and goods vans, with timber wagons and other rolling stock hired from

ways.

Remains

Much of the Tramway reservation is now on private property, although substantial portions are visible from public roads such as the

Mount Lindesay Highway Mount Lindesay Highway is an Australian national highway located in Queensland. The highway runs southwest from Brisbane, where it leaves Ipswich Road in the suburb of Moorooka (as Beaudesert Road to the Logan Motorway), to the Queensland &nd ...

. The Tramway station at Rathdowney still exists. Tramway Road at Christmas Creek is built on the former tramway reservation.

Gallery

References

External links

{{Coord, 28, 10, 28, S, 152, 54, 13, E, display=title Railway lines opened in 1903 Railway lines closed in 1944 Closed railway lines in Queensland 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Australia 1903 establishments in Australia 1944 disestablishments in Australia Scenic Rim Region