Belmont Tramway Company 0-4-2 Locomotives in Australia

Class 1 (Locobase 13755)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University, Volume 36, p. 226. See also the Wikipedia entry at [], last accessed 21 January 2012. Works number was 35935 in January 1911.

Shrouded in the typical tramcar body, this steam dummy served a Queensland tramway that laid 42-lb/yard (21-kg/metre) rail in the southeastern suburbs of Brisbane, the state's capital city. According to the Wikipedia entry on the tramway, this was the only motor on the line. It trailed 3 carriages on a line "...4.3 miles (6.9 km) long from a junction on the Cleveland railway line between Norman Park and Morningside. There were passenger shelters at Belmont Junction, Seven Hills, Mount Bruce, City View, Mayfield Road, Carina and stations with goods facilities at Springfield and the terminus at Belmont."

Top speeds for the "Belmont Flyer" reached 15 mph (24 km/h) but slowed down to 10 mph (16 km/h) when crossing bridges. The profile included "easy" curves, but grades as steep as 4%.

Opening in 25 May 1912, the BTC never made money, was expensive to operate, and most likely aroused the same dislikes as did most other steam motor operations. In any case, the line closed in 1915 and the 1 went to the Isis Sugar Mill. Some time later, it wound up on the Queensland's Public Works District.

Meanwhile, public uproar over the line's closing prompted its reopening in 1916 by the Belmont Shire Council, when it was served by the Queensland Railway's small A13 and A14 4-4-0s and B13, B15, and PB15 4-6-0s (The latter 3 are described under Locobases 3320, 9436, 9422).

Bridge weaknesses forced the line to close again in April 1924. Its reopening in 1925 under the aegis of the Brisbane City Council lasted only a short time before its permanent demise in October 1926.