{"id":133889,"date":"2024-09-27T09:45:55","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T23:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=133889"},"modified":"2024-09-27T09:45:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T23:45:57","slug":"preserving-cane-train-history-before-australian-rail-buffs-run-out-of-puff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=133889","title":{"rendered":"Preserving cane train history before Australian rail buffs run out of puff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Railway enthusiast Brad Peadon is convinced time is running out to preserve remnants from the glory years of Australia’s cane trains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peadon, a railway historian with about 300,000 photos, many of them irreplaceable, is one of several ferroequinologists \u2014 a technical term for train buffs \u2014 struggling with failing health or fading memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile natural disasters, weather exposure and shifting priorities continue to threaten bridges, tracks and locomotives that paved the way for sugar to flourish around the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mount Coolum overlooks Yandina Creek cane fields on the Sunshine Coast. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Robert Burgin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“There is, no doubt, some great work undertaken by a few museums,” Mr Peadon says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But for the most part you really wouldn’t have a clue of the extent cane train routes existed.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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The Tramway Lift Bridge at the Maroochy River after flooding in 2022. (Supplied: Clive Plater)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As sugar mills face uncertain futures and governments monitor maintenance budgets, it is often retirees and volunteers left fighting for the cause, salvaging what they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there’s a lot to preserve \u2014 about 4,000 kilometres of track, 250 locomotives and 52,000 cane bins still transport sugarcane around Australia \u2014 some valued mementos are already lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An enduring passion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mr Peadon, 55, became fascinated with trains and trams when he was five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I used to ride the old railmotor from Robertson in the New South Wales Southern Highlands down to Wollongong with my grandparents on holidays, and that likely had a lot to do with it,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brad Peadon also founded the Philippine Railway Historical Society. (Supplied: Brad Peadon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“My obsession with cane trains in particular traces back to the 1990s when I visited Queensland and saw a map of Nambour with a cane line running down the street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I found the line, the trains, then the old mill, which sparked an annual visit, where I would explore more and more.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the friends Mr Peadon made was Clive Plater, now president of the Nambour and District Historical Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clive Plater with the few remnants saved from the Maroochy River Tramway Lift Bridge. (ABC Sunshine Coast: Robert Burgin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr Plater’s great-grandfather was the first chairman of Nambour’s Moreton Mill, and father Edgar Plater served for 51 years as an engine driver, tramway and bridge supervisor, cane inspector and traffic operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting the past<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mr Plater, who has written books about cane railways and received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his services to community history, says sugar is what saw Nambour boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The sugar mill was a great employer and a great thing for the town,” Mr Plater says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There were tractor dealers and car dealerships everywhere, and that’s what made the economy boom here for over 100 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But there certainly isn’t much left and you can’t exactly blame the sugar companies or mill owners because they’re often obliged to pull up everything when a mill closes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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British sailors pose on a cane train in Nambour in 1910. (Supplied: E.O.Lewis, State Library of Queensland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mr Plater and Mr Peadon agree one of the greatest difficulties in preserving cane railways is they are often on private land, running through farms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They both rue the “tragic” failure to protect the old wooden Tramway Lift Bridge that spanned the Sunshine Coast’s Maroochy River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although a small section was removed in 2019 to be preserved at Nambour Museum, the rest was washed away by floods in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Tramway Lift Bridge at Maroochy River in 2017, when it was still intact. (Supplied: Brad Peadon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“As time went on, I knew they wouldn’t save the bridge because there was no maintenance done to it,” Mr Plater says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a picturesque spot, a nice spot to stand at, sail past, take photos or do a spot of fishing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In North Queensland, several other bridges used for sugar cane trains \u2014 which are smaller and have narrower wheelbases than regular trains \u2014 have been damaged or decommissioned in past decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you add the loss of other tracks servicing bygone mining, logging and docking routes, for some railway enthusiasts it feels like history is being erased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As recently as 2023, the head of the Light Railways Research Society of Australia warned the organisation may not exist past 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rise of the cane train<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Trains became the dominant means of transporting sugar cane in Australia in 1882, although the defunct Morayfield Plantation (closed 1889), north of Brisbane, pioneered a traction locomotive in 1866.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moray Fields plantation, pictured in 1873, became the site of the suburb Morayfield. (Supplied: State Library of Queensland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Historian John Browning says prior to trains, sugar cane was first transported by wagons, bullocks and horses, then largely via waterways on a combination of vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The locations along Australia’s eastern coast where sugar cane plantations flourished \u2014 places like Mackay, the Burdekin, the Tweed and northern New South Wales \u2014 commonly feature navigable riverways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, railways direct to mills were preferred by the end of the 19th century, reducing double-handling, losses of cane, and avoiding complex, shifting maritime conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The solution emerged with the development of light rail technology by the French sugar beet farmer and engineer Paul Decauville,” Mr Browning says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decauville worked with English firm John Fowler & Co to modify steam-powered ploughs used in agriculture, developing them into a patent for the Iron Carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iron Carrier was the first iteration of what we now know as a cane train locomotive and was exported to places including Australia and Fiji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This Fowler engine is one of two located at the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre in Mourilyan. (Supplied: Australian Sugar Heritage Centre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Changes, both good and bad<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mr Browning, for one, doesn’t subscribe to a pessimistic outlook for cane trains.<\/p>\n\n\n

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This Hudswell-Clarke engine, made in 1914, starred in the Hollywood film Australia. (Supplied: Wilmar Sugar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“The truth is that they are flourishing and constantly adapting to enhance efficiency and effectiveness,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Cane railways in Queensland are the envy of the sugar industry worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They are by far the most economical and environmentally friendly method of cane transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The investment by the sugar industry in cane railway networks has been significant.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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An extensive network of functioning cane trains remains in North Queensland, including in Tully. (Supplied: Australian Sugar Heritage Centre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite this, more than 15 mills across Queensland alone have closed since the 1880s, including a raft since the dawn of the 21st century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nambour’s Moreton Mill (2003), Bundaberg’s Fairymead (2004), and North Queensland’s Mourilyan (2006), Pleystowe (2009) and Babinda (2011) mills have all shut down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been constant speculation about the future of the Mossman Sugar Mill<\/a>, which was placed into voluntary administration in 2023, but at the same time record prices have been recorded for sugar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The late Andrew Palser inspecting cane tracks at Yandina. (Supplied: Brad Peadon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Who preserves what’s left?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Greg Shannon is a volunteer and board member at the Australian Sugar Heritage Centre at Mourilyan, just south of Innisfail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1974, the centre houses two vintage locomotives among other artefacts, but has been closed since the end of 2023 due to weather damage.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The heritage centre has suffered extensive damage to its roof. (Supplied: Australian Sugar Heritage Centre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“We can’t get the power back on because the roof has leaked so bad. We don’t know if we’re going to reopen,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re going to need about $400,000 and just don’t have the money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’ve tried heaps of different forms of government funding, but it’s fallen flat, so now we’re chasing a couple of local businesses to see if they’ll get involved and help out.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like enthusiasts further south, Mr Shannon admits age and fatigue are starting to take their toll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There’s only been eight of us involved and the truth is we’re all getting tired,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The refurbished Plantation Train engine is returned to its tracks at The Big Pineapple. (Supplied: The Big Pineapple)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One ray of light for narrow-gauge rail enthusiasts in 2024 has been the reopening of the Plantation Train circuit at Woombye’s Big Pineapple.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Charles and Diana aboard the Plantation Train at The Big Pineapple in 1983. (Supplied: Queensland State Archives)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Ridden in 1983 by King Charles and the late Princess Diana, the modified cane train is popular with visitors of all ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well as lovingly refurbishing the locomotive, Big Pineapple workers also replaced 700 sleepers and 250 metres of track previously damaged by vandals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A 22-year-old man was ordered to pay for damages after derailing the tourist attraction in 2021. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Time of the essence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Brad Peadon suffered three strokes in August, his urging to preserve history gained additional perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I know the cost of maintaining infrastructure is immense, but we could have more interpretive signage around, denoting what was once there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One idea I liked was talk of illuminated representation of cane lines at particular points of interest,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A cane train crosses the Tramway Lift Bridge which previously spanned the Maroochy River. (Supplied: Brad Peadon)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“I’ve always felt the best history is from those who worked it, and I’d like to see more books and websites on the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sadly, personal stories are often untold and, with each passing year, more and more are lost.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ABC News Historical<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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