down to the bay

Title:
down to the bay

Description:
The Norman Park bank is one of the most popular spots for rail photography on the southside, and the view from the Bennetts Rd overbridge, is one of the most photographed. Riding along this same section in the 1960s reveals a very different view. As D17s, PB15s and BB18 and a quarters thundered up the bank, passengers were able to look from the window, and glimpse a vacant corridor, nestled between the houses, that once carried the rails to Belmont. From 1912, This lightly constructed line, had ten trains a day, servicing the 397 landowners throughout the Belmont shire. Before the line opened, the only way of moving goods was by camel, (pause) and horse and carriage. The main road servicing the area has always been Old Cleveland Rd and in the early 1900s, it was an unsealed narrow track, that disintegrated in heavy rains, isolating farmers, sometimes for weeks. Other complaints included that the omnibus service was always late, dirty, and often dangerous. After an unsuccessful bid to have the tram line extended from Stones Corner to the Belmont School, the council decided transport between Belmont and the City would be via a railway, lightly constructed with 42 pound per yard rail and rock ballast, with sleepers placed sparingly. Construction was swift, with the line being completed in less than 18 months and the first passenger train arrived at Belmont on the 25th May 1912. Hundreds of guests attended lavish celebrations, declaring the line officially open. The Belmont Flyer, consisting of a B13 locomotive and two carriages, generally ran from Norman Park to Belmont. The line ran alongside what is now Skyline Drive, halting at Mount Bruce Station before continuing through the north eastern part of Glindemann ' s dairy , crossing Wiles Road and passing through what is now the Camp Hill State School oval, to Old Cleveland Road. The next stop was at City View Station near the Belmont Hotel. It then ran alongside Old Cleveland Road to Mayfield Station before reaching the terminus, across the road from Belmont State School. It took 23 minutes to travel from Norman Park to Belmont, with the train to South Brisbane adding another 17 minutes. Aside from the loco hauled passenger train, the tramway also owned a Baldwin Steam powered tram motor which was assembled in Beenleigh, and later sold to the Isis sugar mill in 1915. Although the line opened to high expectations, the Belmont Flyer never exceeded 100 passengers a day. The line also served the local industry, with wagons carrying goods from the gravel pits near Scrub Road, wool from the wool scour and livestock from the nearby resting paddocks near Baynes Siding, situated on Old Cleveland Road, before the terminus. The Belmont council and citizens predicted that the railway would promote population growth in the area, but when World War I broke out, the Shire's development did not advance and growth was very slow in the years that followed. The original cost of the line was almost 22000 pounds, which the shire borrowed entirely from the state government. By 1920, the shire still owed over 19000 pounds and it became obvious that the line wasn't going to pay its way. The shire made the decision to close it in April 1924. In May the following year, the line reopened when the 'Greater Brisbane scheme' subsumed Belmont shire, but still, the new Council was not interested in a non-profitable light railway, and it was permanently closed on 30 October 1926. A bus to the Camp Hill tram terminus replaced it, with the passengers covering the costs. Unlike many other lines that have been closed over the years, the Belmont branch was not immediately removed, and remained unchanged for another eight years. On the proposal of electric street trams, the council decided that the line was no longer required for the future, and all structures were removed, except for the bridge across Bulimba creek, which was visible from the parallel road bridge until the road was duplicated. Today, the stumps are the only construction remaining from the branch, and what is left of them, can still be seen today.

Author:
RailAroundQueensland

Tags:
Queensland, Railway, Train, Suburban, Documentary, History, Diesel, Electric, Steam, South, Tram, Fisherman,