North East Dundas Tramway


The North East Dundas Tramway was a narrow gauge tramway on West Coast Tasmania that ran between Zeehan and Deep Lead. It was part of Tasmanian Government Railways. The world's first Garratt locomotives TGR K Class were used on the line, as were two G Class 0-4-2T engines built by Sharp-Stewart of Glasgow in 1896 and a massive 'J Class' 2-6-4-0T articulated locomotive manufactured by Hagans of Erfurt in 1900.

History

The line was opened in 1896 to carry ore from the Williamsford mines to Zeehan where it would be loaded onto another train for shipment to Burnie. The narrow-gauge was chosen because of the extremely difficult terrain that the railway crossed, requiring several big trestle bridges, including one at the foot of Montezuma Falls. After some rain the engine and carriages would get soaked by spray from the falls. A detailed description of conditions along the line is included in a undertaken in 1900 by the premier Australian Rules football team. During their journey down the mountain to Zeehan one of the carriages left the rails on a tight bend and the players left the carriage and lifted it back on the rails. There was a break-of-gauge with the mainline system at Zeehan. The railway was closed in 1932.

Locomotives

Several tight-radius curves required careful consideration of the locomotives that were suitable to run on them. Consequently mainly articulated designs were chosen. The 2-6-4-0T 'J Class' Hagans locomotive was the first articulated locomotive to run on the line, and was at the time the heaviest narrow gauge locomotive in the Southern Hemisphere, weighing 42 tonnes. It was more powerful than its 3' 6" gauge counterparts.
The 1909-vintage 'K Class' 0-4-0+0-4-0 Garratt locomotives were added in service, until the line was closed to locomotives in 1929.
The Sharp-Stewart locomotives had been sold some years before the closure, and K-2 was also scrapped. However, K-1 and the Hagans loco were saved. K-1, the first of the Garratt locos, was presented back to its makers, Beyer-Peacock of Manchester, and now runs on the Welsh Highland Railway in North Wales. The Hagans languished in the Zeehan locomotive shed until 1949. The locomotive was then scrapped.

Stopping Places

A boiler explosion occurred on 17 May 1899 in the Zeehan yard.

Further literature