At the start of the Twentieth century it was constructed to take ore from
Gormanston east of the
West Coast Range to the
Crotty smelters. From there it was shipped out at Kelly Basin. The North Mount Lyell Railway had exceptionally easy grades compared to its competitor the
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company which ran its
Abt rack system railway through very steep grades from
Queenstown to
Regatta Point.
Design challenge The railway route ran across a belt of
karst terrain in the area near the current
Darwin Dam – and the engineers of the 1890s were possibly the first in Australia to have designed for the possibility of
sinkholes when planning the route.
Operation The line was opened for passengers 15 December 1900, and was taken over by the
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company on 16 July 1903. In December 1900, when J.F. Anderson was Chief Superintendent, timetabling had: • Kelly Basin to Linda leaving 8.30 a.m. and 1.45 p.m. • Linda to Kelly Basin leaving at 11.00 a.m. and 4.15 p.m. Stopping points were Gormanston junction, King River and Ten Mile. In August 1901, when J.J. Ware was the traffic manager, timetabling for passengers was restricted to one train a day from each end of the line. • Linda - departure 10 a.m. • Kelly Basin - departure 9.20 a.m. The two trains met at Smelters Junction, with the Linda train leaving at 1.30 p.m. and the Kelly Basin train leaving at 2.45 p.m. The later years of operation of the line a small rail motor was utilised, similar to that on the
Lake Margaret Tram in the last years of operation. Due to failure of the Crotty smelters and the North Mount Lyell operations in general, and the amalgamation of the Mount Lyell and North Mount Lyell mines and companies, the railway had a short operational life. It closed to passengers in July 1924 and closed in 1929.
Locomotives The railway utilised three
Avonside Engines: ::
J.Crotty (No.1)(AE 1392/1899), ::
JP Lonergan (No.2)(AE 1393/1899) ::
DJ Mackay (No.3)(AE 1394/1899). It also had three
Shay engines: :: Number 4 (Lima 698/1902) – 3 cylinder two truck :: Number 5 (Lima 697/1902) :: Number 6 (Lima 704/1902)
Shipping The company also had its own ship (the SS North Lyell) in its service which transported rolling stock to Kelly Basin
After closure The railway bridge at the
King River and the old rail
formation were utilised right up to the damming of the River and the creation of
Lake Burbury by the
Hydro Electric Commission in the 1980s. The railway formation between the Linda Valley and the old locality of
Darwin is now under water. The railway formation between Mount Owen and Mount Jukes was known as the
Kelly Basin Road during the
No Dams campaign of December 1982 – and was a location of interaction between members of the Tasmanian Police and protesters. ==Access==