The Belmont Tramway was a short lived steam tramway in the south-eastern suburbs of Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, the state capital of Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It was built by the Belmont Shire Council and opened in 1912. Services were suspended several times and the line formally closed in October 1926.

History

The construction was proposed in 1909 and the Belmont Shire Council requested an engineering report on the cost of a tramway. The Shire constructed a tramway 4.3 miles 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

Belmont, Queensland

Belmont is an outer suburb of Brisbane, Australia. It is 12 km south-east of the CBD.Belmont is named after the original estate in 1876, the estate grew and became the Belmont Shire in 1901...

. The cost of constuction was £20,000.

The line was originally operated by Queensland Railways until the Shire acquired its own steam tram (Baldwin

Baldwin Locomotive Works

The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...

 b/n 35935 of 1911) and three carriages. The maximum speed was 15 miles per hour (24.1 km/h) with a limit of 10 miles per hour (16.1 km/h) over the bridges. It was expensive to operate and services were suspended in 1915, at which time the Shire's tram and carriages were sold.

The line was reopened due to local agitation and was operated by Queensland Railways on behalf of the Shire until 16 April 1924, when services were again suspended due to the condition of the bridges. The locomotives permitted to work the line were the A12, A14

Queensland A14 class locomotive

The A14 class steam locomotive was a 4-4-0 locomotive of the Queensland Railways .The locomotives operated on 1,067 mm gauge...

, B13

Queensland B13 class locomotive

The B13 class steam locomotive was a 4-6-0 locomotive of the Queensland Railways .The locomotives operated on 1,067 mm gauge...

, B15 and PB15 class.

The line reopened again in April 1925 but the Brisbane City Council, which had absorbed the Shire, was not interested in running the tramway at a loss and it finally closed in October 1926.

664 metre of the track bed along Old Cleveland Road became part of the Brisbane City Council electric tram route 06 (Valley - Belmont) in 1948.