Belgrave Timber Tramway

Belgrave Timber Tramway 

Belgrave Timber Tramway 

Description of the Timber Tramway 

 "A 3ft. 0in. gauge timber tramway, powered by horses, was formerly operated into Belgrave from the Dandenong State Forest Reserve north of the railway. Leaving the station yard on the 'down' side of the line, the tramway climbed to road level, crossed the road over-bridge beyond the station to the 'up' side of the railway, thence descended in an are to cross Monbulk Creek and pass under the railway trestle bridge spanning the creek. 

A short distance northwards, the tram line junctioned to form two routes extending to timber mills in the valleys of Monbulk Creek and Hardy's Creek, each mill being a little more than two miles from Belgrave. It is believed that the tramway was in operation for some 15 years until the late 1920's."

Notes from Frank Stamford and Robert Smith on the location of the Tramway 

Frank Stamford : Hello Jenny. Thank you very much for publishing that web page, there is some very interesting material there. One thing which concerns me is the story that the tramway came over the road bridge and into Belgrave station yard. There does not seem to be any reliable evidence dating from the time the tramway operated to support that. It does not show up in any photographs. I think the tramway terminated at the trestle bridge, and the timber was transferred there to the road and taken into the station by road. Permission would have been needed from various authorities to take the tramway along the road and over the bridge, but despite searches such evidence has not been found. The maps on your web page are extremely interesting, and I think they may show the tramway pretty much to its full extent.

Robert Smith : There was 3 foot tramway that was established around 1910 that ran in an easterly direction from just beyond the Down end of the trestle bridge. There is a photograph of it taken from the bridge but I can't recall where I came across it.

Info & Photos from Old puff Pictures on the Sawmills and Teamsters in the Belgrave area 

from http://esoteric-inkworks.tripod.com/friendsofthetrestlebridge/id4.html

Tramways went upstream from the mill into the forest following the two creek branches to their sources and another from mill to train station yard. Logs were pulled up hills when necessary by steam winches but generally horses provided the motive power and things were usually organised so the mill lay downhill. 

There is a bullock team facing up the hill in the background. 

J.T. Mahony had mills firstly at the top of Sandells Road, then on Station St, then Cook's Corner at Kallista where he winched timber uphill and carted water for his Ruston-Proctor steam winch from Beagley's bridge and then consigned sawn timber down Jackson's Hill Road to the train at The Tanks/Landslide site before setting up upstream from the railway bridge. 

He had a 3-foot gauge tramway from the mill passing under the bridge and up the Clematis Creek to Belgrave, curving in an arc to the old Belgrave narrow-gauge station, via the road bridge over the railway, the main street and then down to the railway yard. The mill was burnt out in large fires in 1914, rebuilt and the mill and tramway operated for 15 years until 1927. 

George Holden and others had sawlogged the upper Hardy's Gully and the Monbulk Creek headwaters from Kallista already. There had been sawmills in the Monbulk Forest since the 1880's and paling spitters since the 1860's. The remaining timber by this time was considered of very poor quality by earlier standards. The timber-getting was at it's height between 1910 and 1916 when most of the trees were harvested.

Maps showing the Location of the Timber Tramway

Photos of the Timber Tramway 

Photos of Belgrave Station  and the Railway Bridge 

Mentions in the newspapers 

Silent Movie of the Timber industry in the 1920's

A Silent Movie - Made 1920

from the the National Film and Sound Archive

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/bush-bungalow/

Produced at a time when the timber industry was considered romantic, Bush Bungalow shows the power of nature and man’s ability to conquer it. Which gives us a glimpse into what the working and living conditions would have been like at the Sawmill and on the Timber Tramway

References :

Timber Tramways on the Gembrook Line by Mark Plummer & John Thompson

Narrow Gauge No.146 Sept 1997  Page 12 - 14

Belgrave 1900-1958  http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~narrow.gauge/belg1.htm

Old Puff Pictures

http://esoteric-inkworks.tripod.com/friendsofthetrestlebridge/id4.html

State Library of Victoria - Photos 

Lost Emerald Facebook page 

National Film and Sound Archive

http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/bush-bungalow/

Trove Newspapers 

1st Published : 31st Jan 2017      31st  Jan 2017       Page Updated: 13 Sept 2020          © Looking for the Evidence : Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )