Ballyhooley Steam Railway

The Bally Hooley Steam Railway is a heritage railway operating in Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.

It operates on approximately 4 km of RailGauge|24 gauge line from the Marina Mirage to Saint Crispin's Station. The railway is operated by a group of volunteers and runs services on Sundays.

History

The train was originally owned and operated by the Mossman Sugar Mill [http://www.mossmanmill.com.au/index.html] . It has operated off and on as a tourist railway since the early 1980s. In the 2000s, locomotives Speedy and Bundy were moved from Mossman to this location.

The actual origin of the word Bally Hooley, and why it was used in the Douglas Shire, seems to be a bit obscure, but is presumably from the Irish village [http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-places-to-go/placefinder/b/ballyhooley-cork/] in County Cork. It was used to name the end of the line, which followed the river up the Mowbray Valley to where the track terminated at the beginning of the old bump road, but why it was so named remains a mystery.

Initially, about eight miles (almost 13km) of two foot (60cm) gauge track was laid but one of the first really important sections to be put down, around 1896, was from a jetty on the Mossman River to the site of the new Mossman Sugar Mill. This was to enable the new mill equipment, just arrived from Glasgow on board the SS Westfield, to be transported to the site.

From then on the extent of the 'tramway', as it was called, expanded at a steady rate, as the problem of transporting sugar cane from the canefields to the mill in Mossman became quite a headache, as there were no suitable roads at the time.

The first steam locomotive to operate on the line was the 'Mossman', built and supplied by John Fowler & Co. of Leeds, England. This proved to be very successful, so the Mill management decided to standardise on locomotives from that builder. A second, the 'Pioneer' followed soon after.

The line from Mossman to Port Douglas, with the branch up the Mowbray River valley, was finally completed and officially opened in 1900. Before that, in 1899, the Mill management, in response to repeated requests from the residents of South Mossman, decided to commence operating a service for passengers. This passenger service was later extended to Port Douglas.

In about 1901 the Douglas Divisional Board, (the precursor of the Douglas Shire Council), decided to obtain a steam locomotive for themselves. They opted for a Fowler loco similar to those used by the Mill and called it Faugh-a-Ballagh, which may still be inspected at its display 'cage' in Grant Street. The descriptive name plate on the loco states that the name is Welsh, meaning 'clear the way', however it is in fact of Irish origin.

In 1952 new steam locomotives were obtained by the Mill. They were the 'Bundy' and the 'Speedy', both built by the Bundaberg Foundry under licence from Fowlers in England. These are still fully operational and currently doing sterling service hauling tourists on fifty minute return trips through the mangroves, Country Club and a couple of resorts.

Both locos are coal fired, with the coal being brought by road from Blair Athol near Clermont, a matter of around 900km. Since the transport of the coal has to be paid for by the railway, most of the proceeds from the 'fares' are absorbed by this and, of course, insurance. All train crew and maintenance personnel are volunteers.

Also in 1952 the Mill management, in its infinite wisdom, decided to change from steam to diesel for its locos. The first diesel, obtained from London in 1953, for hauling the cane trucks to the mill, was the 'Mowbray'. This engine is still fully operational and is now used by the Ballyhooley Steam Railway for track maintenance and emergencies. It can be seen when passing by the locomotive depot on the way to St Crispin's Station, which is now the end of the line where the locos are turned around on the turntable for the return trip to the Marina Mirage. [ [http://www.ballyhooley.com.au/HISTORY.7.0.html] Ballyhooley Steam Railway site "Retrieved 9.10.2008"]

References

External links

* [http://www.ballyhooley.com.au Bally Hooley Steam Railway official site]