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Colonial and Latin American Narrow Gauge Railway
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The Corinella & Blackwood Forest TramwayA brief (if fictional) historyColonial Hardwoods opened its mill at Blackwood Forest in the Bass Hills of West Gippsland in 1881. Management installed a horse tramway to connect the mill to Western Port Bay at Corinella. Within months the folly of this investment is recognised. The distances and loads are too great for horse transport. Management bites the bullet, and invests in a steam tramway. Locos are a mixture, a 2-4-0 by Baldwin, an 0-6-0 by Bagnall, and an A class Climax, as well as some other small locos of indeterminate design. In this era, the C&BFT bought locos on a one-off basis as traffic grew. Track is laid with 35lb rail, which allows a 6.5-ton axle loading. Permission is granted to carry goods and passengers between Corinella and Blackwood Forest. The Corinella and Blackwood Forest Tramway is born. 1889 Land boomers acquire the mill and tramway. Using their profits from land deals, they push the tramway further east towards Kongwak and the Mt Misery coalfields. To cater for the expected traffic, they set out to aquire new locomotives. Baldwins have proved most reliable to date, so 2 x 4-4-0 and 2 x 2-6-0 are ordered. 1890 The depression of this year causes the pack of cards to collapse around the land boomers, and the tramway and mill are sold off. The tramway does make it to Kongwak, however there is a VR broad gauge branch line to the Mt Misery coalfields and the C&BFT is left with the dregs of the coal traffic. 1894 New management encourages the construction of a beet sugar factory at Glen Alvie which brings an increase in seasonal traffic. Kongwak in the meantime has developed as a commercial and government hub for the region. 1897 Management sees an opportunity to tap the black coal fields of the Wonthaggi district, while at the same time providing better access for beet farmers on the lower Powlett to the sugar factory by building a branch line from West Branch Junction down Archies Creek through Dayleston to the Wonthaggi fields. Noted specialist in light railways, E H Calthrop is consulted. Calthrop introduces the concept of maximum capacity wagons for the 35lb tracks, and so wagons of steel construction of 20-ton capacity are constructed. Calthrop also designs a 2-6-4T of the same maximum axle load as the 2-6-0 locos, but with 40% increased tractive effort, and three are purchased from Kitsons. The C&BFT settles back to a relatively prosperous existence hauling a little coal, agricultural products and timber for the following decade. As Kongwak is now the commercial and administrative centre for the district, there is considerable passenger traffic between Kongwak, Wonthaggi, and Corinella. 1911 Strikes in the NSW coal fields leads to a crisis situation in Victoria. The Victorian government decides it is vital to secure a source of coal for the Victorian Railways. The only obvious supply is the Wonthaggi fields. Unfortunately the C&BFT has pre-emptive rights in this area, both in terms of tying up mining rights to the field, and having a track running across the proposed VR railway route to the coalfields. At the same time farmers to the south-east of Kongwak are complaining that they want increased access for their beets to the beet factory. Their local member is both influential in the government (or at least he knows where the bodies are buried), and in a somewhat dicey position regarding his prospects for re-election. A quick solution is found - the C&BFT is to give up its rights, in return the Government will build a 2'6" railway from Kongwak to Walkerville, provide the rolling stock, and give the C&BFT a subsidy to run it for 20 years. The C&BFT is not so silly as to look a gift horse in the mouth, and realising they would loose any fight over Wonthaggi in the long run, jump at the offer. The deal includes re-laying the C&BFT main line to 60lb rail to take the VR NA locomotives. Two NA class are provided as well as a variety of rolling stock. By agreement, all the rolling stock can be used anywhere on the C&BFT, although VR is responsible for maintenance of their own stock. The extension to Walkerville adds another major source of traffic in the form of the lime kilns there. 1916 The new steel conglomerate, BHP, looking to support it's customers in the industrial heartland of Melbourne, constructs a steel fabrication plant at Long Island on the opposite side of Western Port Bay to Corinella. Looking for a source of coal, they pick the Mt Misery coalfields as the most likely option. The VR branch line has long ago been lifted, so the only option is via the C&BFT to Corinella, then barge across the bay. Coal traffic grows rapidly, and the C&BFT is obliged to lease additional NA class locos from the VR to make up the deficit. 1921 Two Garratt 2-6-0+0-6-2 are purchased to eliminate double heading on coal trains, and the leased NA class locos can be returned to the VR. The Garratts are based on a design first used on the West Australian 3'6" lines. 1925 Looking to contain costs management invests in railcars, a double-ended articulated steam railcar by Sentinel for the Wonthaggi - Kongwak service, and a petrol bone-rattler for the Mt Misery - Kongwak service. 1931 The depression sees a decline in all forms of traffic, and the subsidy for the Walkerville Railway is up for renegotiation. The coal traffic also has now dried up, and the Mt. Misery branch abandoned. Unable to run the line at a loss, the board of the C&BFTCo announce they will be stopping operations at the end of the year. Beet farmers complain bitterly and demand the Government do something. The Government takes over the line, scrapping the line over Bass Hill to Corinella, and all locos except the two Garratts. Trains now operate out of Wonthaggi, and the Garratts, with the help of occasional NA's are more than adequate to move available traffic. The government-owned Victorian Railways now have another unprofitable narrow gauge branch line. 1946 In the new post-war climate, farmers find dairying more profitable, and the beet sugar factory closes. Deprived of it's last major source of traffic, the railway limps on for a few more years with a weekly goods train. 1952 Victorian Railways is intent on closing it's network of narrow gauge railways, and the line to Kongwak and Walkerville is one of the first to go. For a change in pace, visit our host:
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