The Historian December 2002
Page 7
THE WYETT TRAMWAY
(BEACONSFIELD)
Due to the gold mine operations in the
Beaconsfield area the town had grown
and the population had moved out into
surrounding districts and transport
became necessary. In 1881 Mr. John
William Wyett obtained the right to
build and operate a tramway at
Beaconsfield.
JOHN WILLIAM WYETT
The first section laid, commenced at the
intersection of Weld and Shaw Streets. It
traversed Shaw Street in an easterly
direction past the Grubb Street
recreation ground, then north past the
rubbish tip to Bowen's Jetty along the
west side of the road a distance of 4 Km.
The tramway was opened for traffic on
December 31st 1881.
Mr. Wyett had built a 30-passenger car
on a four-wheeled bogie and the seats
were placed lengthwise and facing
outwards. This car was "No. 1" and was
drawn by horses and was very popular
on holidays with people taking trips to
Bowen's Jetty. The service ran every two
hours and took 28 minutes. The
following year saw the arrival of an
additional car "No. 2".
A pencil drawing of the one horse
tramcar. (Taken from an article in the
Examiner Newspaper October 20th 1987)
The next extension of the line was
opened to traffic in 1885. It commenced
at the intersection of Weld and Shaw
Streets, continued up Shaw Street where
it turned towards Douglas Street making
a loop around the gold mine site.
Car " No.3" which was identical to the
other two began its run in June 1885.
The fares charged were:
2 pence between Weld Street and North
Beaconsfield
4 pence between Weld Street and
Bowen's Jetty
The Historian December 2002
The stops were:
Bowen's Jetty, Bowen's Jetty Road,
North Beaconsfield, New Street, Ophir
Street, Shaw Street and Weld Street.
The final extension was opened in
January 1886. This branch line left the
main line to Bowen's Jetty and continued
on to Beauty Point Wharf via a bridge
over Pease Creek and ran beside what
are now Kemp's Parade and the Port
Dalrymple Yacht Club.
In the latter part of 1890 another tramcar
was added "No 7" and about a dozen
bogie flat trucks were placed in service.
In 1902 another locomotive was
purchased, "No 3". In 1903 the
Tasmania Gold Mining Company
purchased the entire business from John
Wyett for the goodly sum of 4,000
pounds. It consisted of, the tramway, 3
locomotives, 7 cars and 12 trucks. A
larger depot was erected in Weld Street
and additional sidings were provided at
Bowen's Jetty and Beauty Point. After
the closing of the Mine the service
ceased to operate on the 25th of
December 1915.
With the opening of the Beauty Point
line it was decided to employ steam
power on the tramway. A Kerr Stuart 04-0 tank locomotive was purchased from
Scotland and placed in service in
January 1886 along with an additional
tramcar. The tramcar was numbered "No
4" and the locomotive, "No 1".
The steel rails of the track had a gauge
of 30 inches (762mm.)
(Right) This locomotive a 0-4-0 tank
was brought into service in January
1886. In the picture are Driver, George
Glover, Fireman, Hugh Shean, and
Guard, Barney Watson.
This service proved to be so satisfactory
that it was decided to convert the horse
drawn cars Nos.1to 3 into steam trailers.
The new arrangements provided a steam
service to Bowen's Jetty and a local
horse service from Weld Street to
Beauty Point In 1889 a second
locomotive" No 2" was purchased along
with two more tramcars "No 5" and "No
6". With these arrivals steam trams
replaced the horse cars on the Beauty
Point line.
Relics of the Kerr Stuart locos are still in
existence. One was used to power a
sawmill in the Camden district near Mt.
Barrow. During the early 90's Keith
Joyce and others from the Grubb Shaft
Museum found the bogie of this unit
close to the old mill site. A driver's cab
is owned locally The museum have some
components. Plans to build one of the
now extinct engines was abandoned due
to the estimated cost at the time,
however such a project would still be
possible.
In 1890, Mr. Wyett made an agreement
with the Tasmania Gold and Quartz
Crushing Company to haul a number of
company bogie flat cars to move
materials from the Beauty Point port to
Beaconsfield.
Some 20 years ago the late Doug
McLachlan of Exeter built a quarterscale, fully operational model of a Kerr
Stuart 0-4-0 locomotive, complete with
fuel tender, passenger cars and signaling
equipment plus 180m of 7.5 inch
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(190.5mm) gauge steel track, arranged in
a circuit through his orchard. A ride,
sitting astride the little passenger car,
whizzing past the apricot trees was an
unforgettable experience. The complete
model is now owned by the West Tamar
Council's Grubb Shaft Museum and is in
the process of being reconditioned,
hopefully soon to be in running order as
a major tourist attraction.
The Historian December 2002
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Compiled by Richard Hooper and Helen Phillips from information supplied by Mrs. Doll
Kalliski from the book by Thomas C.T. Cooley "Railroading in Tasmania
I would also like to thank the staff at the Beaconsfield Gold and Heritage Museum for
providing some of the information and photos.