SHAY LOCOMOTIVE AND TRAMWAY

Shay locomotives and tramway images

Images of the Cabarlah Tramway

Munro's first log haulage tramway was built about 2 miles to the east of the Cabarlah railway station. The line was 1/2 mile long with wooden rails on the straight sections and steel rails on the curves. The gauge was 2'6". The loading area was at the bottom of a relatively steep grade and horse teams were used to haul the logs along this line to the top of that grade. There the logs were transferred to bullock hauled wagons and transported to the Argyle Mill at Geham.

Cabarlah line - mid 1890's	Cabarlah line - 20 September 1896. A team of 5 horses hauling a 3 ton log across a bridge.

Images of the Palmtree Tramway and the Shay loco's - 906 and 2097 - that operated on that line

Munro's main tramway was a 26 km, 2' 6" gauge iron railed network centred on the mill at Palmtree. It operated as a means of transporting logs from the two outlying logging centres - the eastern escarpment (where an Incline Winder operated) and the Bunkers Hill terminus - to the mill. It also provided a means of transporting the sawn timber from the mill to the government rail line at Hampton. The first section of the line - from the Palmtree mill to Hampton - was in operation by 1898 and for the first 7 or so years haulage along the line was horse drawn. In 1905 Shay 906 went into service and it was joined by Shay 2097 in 1908.

Earliest documented photo of the tramway - 1st mile completed. Darling Downs Gazette, 26 Sep 1896. Credit: National Library of Australia	McQuillan's Bridge. This image was first published in the Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Advertiser on the 8th of October, 1898. The above higher resolution version of that same image was published in the QLD Country Life on the 12th of February, 1901. Credit: National Library of Australia.
Trolley crossing Clark's Bridge	Admiring Shay 906 at Hampton
Shay 906 crossing Bridge 1. Official ceremony celebrating conversion to loco haulage - April 1905.	Shay 906 outside of the Engine Shed at Hampton. W. J. Munro in foreground.
Shay 906 outside of the Engine Shed at Hampton. W. J. Munro in foreground.	Shay 906 at the Mill. Driver is possibly Ted Smith.
Shay 2097. Fred Kafer is the driver and Joe Brady is the fireman. Possibly W.J. Munro up front. Still has the original stack.	Shay 906 on the way to Hampton. Probably Olaf Olsen as driver and Tom Brady as fireman.
Shays side by side in loco shed at Mill. There's one egg-ended boiler vessel mounted at top right and another (barely visible) over the right hand Shay. Those vessels held water used to replenish the Shay's.	Shay 906 hauling a load of potatoes, as well as sawn timber, to Hampton. At the front is the fireman, Fred Kafer, and the driver is Tom Brady.
Shay 906 - Two lamps, one at front and one at back.	Shay 906 at the mill. Ernie Shum (wearing a white shirt) standing in front of the seated driver.
Shay 906 crossing McQuillan's Bridge.

Shay 906 heading up to Hampton. Olaf Olsen is the driver.	The Shay heading back to the mill after loading at Bunkers Hill. Photo probably taken looking up towards Horrex Road.
A consignment of logs, felled by the Strohfeld brothers, arriving at the mill.	Shay 2097 passing Chapman's store at Hampton. Joe Brady at front, seated on a bag of potatoes, Richard Kahler is seated directly behind him and Percy Croft is closest to the cabin. Note that the stack has now been changed out.
Shay 2097 passing Chapman's store at Hampton. Joe Brady at front, seated on a bag of potatoes, Richard Kahler is seated directly behind him and Percy Croft is closest to the cabin.	Shay 906 outside of Chapman's Store. Note that the headlight is missing and the stack has been changed out.
Shay 2097 The lamp appears to be missing and the paint on the tender looks well worn	Bullock team coaxing Shay 906 back on the track. Photo published 21 January 1934 - not long before operations closed. Credit: National Library of Australia.
The Queenslander, 22 Feb 1934, P20. Credit: State Library of QLD	The Queenslander, 22 Feb 1934, P20. Credit: State Library of QLD Tender from Shay 906 stored in front of the Shay 2097 loco. Perhaps this unit was being used as the source of spares for the remaining operating unit.
The Queenslander, 22 Feb 1934, P20. Credit: State Library of QLD. Arch bar truck under loco. Note the tools supported above the wheels.

Images of Shay components at Palmtree, post the closure of operations

The tramway appears to cease operating in 1936 and early in the following year the A&D Munro company goes into voluntary liquidation. An auction of the Palmtree Mill equipment, including the two Shays, takes place on site on the 31st of March, 1937.

Credit: National Library of Australia

The two Shays fail to sell and for the next 37 years they lie in the open at the old mill site. In the 1974 the then property owners donate the Shay remains to the Illawarra Light Rail Society who arrange for shipment of those remains to Albion Park, NSW.

Credit: Peter Neve OAM collection. Shay 2097 engine and tender on side at Palmtree. Photo probably taken in 1973, a year before uplift.	Shay 906 on side at Palmtree. Photo probably taken in 1973, a year before the uplift.
July 1974. Shay 2097 boiler being loaded onto semitrailer for transport to the Illawarra Light Rail Museum.	July 1974. Shay 2097 boiler and tender on semi before setting off for the Illawarra Light Railway Museum.
Shay 2097 boiler at Illawarra Light Railway Museum, Albion Park, NSW. The damage to 2097 boiler arising from earlier scrap retrieval exercise at Palmtree is quite evident
	Illawarra Light Rail Society reconstruction
Illawarra Light Rail Society reconstruction

The Shay components returned to Ravensbourne

As the above images show, the Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society made some progress in the restoration of the Shay relics. Some time later some of the Munro Shay components - the major ones being the Shay 906 boiler and the Shay 2097 tender - were returned to Ravensbourne. The next series of photos show the state of those components immediately prior to their restoration by the Munro Tramway Historical Group.

Shay 2097 tender	Shay 906 boiler
Replica stack

Bridge Images

There were 5 bridges on the tramway network. From west to east, they were: Clark's Bridge, McQuillan's Bridge, Bridge 1, Bridge 2 and Bridge 3.

Clark's Bridge and McQuillan's Bridge were probably built in 1896 - 1897. Bridges 1, 2 and 3 were built on the section of line that connected the mill to the eastern escarpment area - where the incline winder operated. We know that construction of that section was underway in 1898 so they were probably built in 1898 - 1899.

Weathering, bushfires and reuse of bridge materials took their toll on these structures and almost no "on the ground" evidence of their existence remains.

We have no photographs of Bridge 2.

Clark's bridge. On the tramway journey from Hampton to the mill, this was the first bridge encountered. This bridge site is located on private property.	McQuillan's Bridge This bridge site is located along the Great Short Walk.
Bridge 1. A photo of this same scene appeared in The Queenslander Pictorial on the 22nd of February, 1934. This bridge site is on private property.	Bridge 3 The only bridge site were some structure remains. Photo at left was taken in 1996 and the one at right in 2015.

Shay locomotives and tramway images

​

Cabarlah line - mid 1890's

Cabarlah line - 20 September 1896. A team of 5 horses hauling a 3 ton log across a bridge.

Earliest documented photo of the tramway - 1st mile completed. Darling Downs Gazette, 26 Sep 1896. Credit: National Library of Australia

McQuillan's Bridge. This image was first published in the Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs Advertiser on the 8th of October, 1898. The above higher resolution version of that same image was published in the QLD Country Life on the 12th of February, 1901. Credit: National Library of Australia.

Trolley crossing Clark's Bridge

Admiring Shay 906 at Hampton

Shay 906 crossing Bridge 1. Official ceremony celebrating conversion to loco haulage - April 1905.

Shay 906 outside of the Engine Shed at Hampton. W. J. Munro in foreground.

Shay 906 outside of the Engine Shed at Hampton. W. J. Munro in foreground.

Shay 906 at the Mill. Driver is possibly Ted Smith.

Shay 2097. Fred Kafer is the driver and Joe Brady is the fireman. Possibly W.J. Munro up front. Still has the original stack.

Shay 906 on the way to Hampton. Probably Olaf Olsen as driver and Tom Brady as fireman.

Shays side by side in loco shed at Mill. There's one egg-ended boiler vessel mounted at top right and another (barely visible) over the right hand Shay. Those vessels held water used to replenish the Shay's.

Shay 906 hauling a load of potatoes, as well as sawn timber, to Hampton. At the front is the fireman, Fred Kafer, and the driver is Tom Brady.

Shay 906 - Two lamps, one at front and one at back.

Shay 906 at the mill. Ernie Shum (wearing a white shirt) standing in front of the seated driver.

Shay 906 crossing McQuillan's Bridge.

Shay 906 heading up to Hampton. Olaf Olsen is the driver.

The Shay heading back to the mill after loading at Bunkers Hill. Photo probably taken looking up towards Horrex Road.

A consignment of logs, felled by the Strohfeld brothers, arriving at the mill.

Shay 2097 passing Chapman's store at Hampton. Joe Brady at front, seated on a bag of potatoes, Richard Kahler is seated directly behind him and Percy Croft is closest to the cabin. Note that the stack has now been changed out.

Shay 2097 passing Chapman's store at Hampton. Joe Brady at front, seated on a bag of potatoes, Richard Kahler is seated directly behind him and Percy Croft is closest to the cabin.

Shay 906 outside of Chapman's Store. Note that the headlight is missing and the stack has been changed out.

Shay 2097 The lamp appears to be missing and the paint on the tender looks well worn

Bullock team coaxing Shay 906 back on the track. Photo published 21 January 1934 - not long before operations closed. Credit: National Library of Australia.

The Queenslander, 22 Feb 1934, P20. Credit: State Library of QLD

The Queenslander, 22 Feb 1934, P20. Credit: State Library of QLD Tender from Shay 906 stored in front of the Shay 2097 loco. Perhaps this unit was being used as the source of spares for the remaining operating unit.

The Queenslander, 22 Feb 1934, P20. Credit: State Library of QLD. Arch bar truck under loco. Note the tools supported above the wheels.

Credit: Peter Neve OAM collection. Shay 2097 engine and tender on side at Palmtree. Photo probably taken in 1973, a year before uplift.

Shay 906 on side at Palmtree. Photo probably taken in 1973, a year before the uplift.

July 1974. Shay 2097 boiler being loaded onto semitrailer for transport to the Illawarra Light Rail Museum.

July 1974. Shay 2097 boiler and tender on semi before setting off for the Illawarra Light Railway Museum.

Shay 2097 boiler at Illawarra Light Railway Museum, Albion Park, NSW. The damage to 2097 boiler arising from earlier scrap retrieval exercise at Palmtree is quite evident

Illawarra Light Rail Society reconstruction

Illawarra Light Rail Society reconstruction

Shay 2097 tender

Shay 906 boiler

Replica stack

Clark's bridge. On the tramway journey from Hampton to the mill, this was the first bridge encountered. This bridge site is located on private property.

McQuillan's Bridge This bridge site is located along the Great Short Walk.

Bridge 1. A photo of this same scene appeared in The Queenslander Pictorial on the 22nd of February, 1934. This bridge site is on private property.

Bridge 3 The only bridge site were some structure remains. Photo at left was taken in 1996 and the one at right in 2015.