Tuesday June 16th is our first official walk since the corona-virus lock down began. Restrictions are slowly being eased as Tasmania remains virus free, and this has allowed us to start up again with some stipulations.
We park at the end of the Nierinna Creek Track, walking up the hill through the farm there.
The weather at the moment is sunny and excellent for walking. However, the forecast isn't good with rain, cold, snow, and everything else they could think of predicted for this afternoon.
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| Leaving the cars and crossing Nierinna Creek |
As we climb the views get better and better. Soon we reach the start of the walk.
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| A map of the track |
We walk on and it's now a pleasant fairly level walk through the gum trees. It's not long before we come to the first place of interest, but it's not historical.
Some one has installed a long rope attached to a sturdy gum tree branch with a seat at the bottom. Ron convinces Lorna to try it out.
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| "Trust me, I'm the walk leader!" |
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| Left dangling as we walk on |
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| Best look away now |
On we go to find a comfortable spot for Morning Tea.
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| Morning Tea |
Our break finished, we continued on and wasn't long before the weather changed, in fact it was like stepping over a line. The temperature immediately dropped, and light rain started to fall.
The weather man was right. I delayed putting on any wet weather gear, but it wasn't long before I changed my mind along with several others.
The Limbo dancers among us have no problem.
The weather man was right. I delayed putting on any wet weather gear, but it wasn't long before I changed my mind along with several others.
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| Rain and cold have arrived |
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| Things are getting tough now, a tree has fallen over the track! |
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| The bush on each side of the track appears to be fairly young. It's been logged in the past |
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| The rain brings out the colours of the trunks of the gum trees. You may not know that they shed bark rather than leaves, exposing varied patterns underneath |
We continue along the old track, coming to a fairly new car park at the end. Looking around, several people wanted to know where the mine was located. Well, first off there were two mines, the Wallsend and the Sandfly. Perhaps it's better if I include an abstract from a paper by C.A. Bacon back in the early 80's.
The Kaoota coalfield has been periodically mined by a number of
syndicates since 1881. While there were two major mines in the coalfield, these were made up of a large number of adits, new adits being dug as older adits were abandoned, with the name of the mine remaining the same.
syndicates since 1881. While there were two major mines in the coalfield, these were made up of a large number of adits, new adits being dug as older adits were abandoned, with the name of the mine remaining the same.
The Sandfly mine has had no less than eleven adits; seven adits were
named 'No.3 workings', 'No.7 workings' etc., while four were named
'No.1 adit', 'No.2 adit', etc.
named 'No.3 workings', 'No.7 workings' etc., while four were named
'No.1 adit', 'No.2 adit', etc.
For those of us who have forgotten their Latin, an 'adit' comes from the word 'aditus' which means an entrance to a mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level.
Using adit saves all that typing.
I've put a map below, not of the best quality, with our route overlaid in red on it, and you can see that the tramway actually went beyond the present ending of the walk.
The Sandfly mine ceased operation in 1971.
Nothing to do now but turnaround and make our way back.
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| More shedding gum trees |
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| A possible lunch spot |
Only possible. It's still raining so we make the choice to give lunch a miss.
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| A very determined gum tree |
You can't see it here, but it's very badly bent and has pushed its way through the rock, dislodging those pieces next to it.
The next photo was requested by Ron. The sheep appeared to have a fringe around its neck. Unfortunately it was raining and I had difficulty getting a good photo as they were on the move.
Below I've put some old photos of the tramway, jetty and engines. The tramway wasn't only used for coal, but also small fruit, people, gravel and timber.
You may notice that one of the signs illustrating a map of the track, shows a location for a fatal accident. This was back in 1908 when the mine had gone in liquidation and the tramway was leased for the carriage of timber. Mr. Oates of Huonville had the lease and used the tramway to transport squared logs, 20 inches x 20 inches and 90 feet long. Now we know why all the trees seem young. Unfortunately, one day the wagons carrying two logs derailed, killing one man and badly injuring another.
There were various companies running the tramway over the years and even Kingborough Council leased it for a number of years.
There were two Krauss locomotives that worked the line. One went to the Ida Bay Railway to haul limestone and was finally sold to the Redwater Creek Steam and Heritage Society in Sheffield. If you want to see how it's going today, CLICK HERE.
I should warn you that the video is 17 minutes long, but the Centre looks like a great spot to visit, particularly in the summer.
If you aren't up for the video, below is a capture of the Krauss engine looking better then it ever did.
Here are some old photos of the mine and tramway.
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| Margate wharf |
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| Terminus at Margate |
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| One of the Krauss Locomotives |
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| Mine interior |
There is a magazine article by the Light Railways Magazine which you can read/download to read later for free. To see it just CLICK HERE
We had 15 walkers and covered 15.48km in 4:04 hours. part dry, part wet.
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