BHP Tramways Centenary History This classic photograph sums up BHP at Whyalla! Although taken in the depression years of the 1930s, the engine- man's expression shows true determination of BHP and its employees during those very difficult times. Artwork: L. Crow. BHP Archives. Front cover: DE's 04/06 depart Iron Knob working a loaded ore train for Whyalla on 2 December 1981. D. Griffiths. Back cover: (Top) Steam locomotive No. 2 shunts on the wharf at Whyalla, while SS Iron King is unloaded on 27 May 1958. BHP Archives. (Below) Baldwin locomotive No. 4 pauses for photographs while working a special steam train to Iron Knob on 9 August 1964. R. Fluck. – ii – BHP Tramways Centenary History 2018 UPDATE This online version of the original is the result of the author’s wish to have the out-of-print book available to a wider audience. This version includes the text and diagrams of the original along with many of the original photographs, almost all of which have now been rescanned from original prints. Only minor corrections have been made. This PDF is fully searchable. A later update will include the remaining original photographs. There will also be a supplement with a summary of the many changes which have occurred since 1985. Please check back from time to time for updated versions of the file (see file date below). This file released 25 October 2018 – 1 – BHP Tramways Centenary History FOREWORD Time, progress and development reflect many changes over a 50 year period. The history of the steel industry, its growth and expansion have been recorded in many books and publications during that time. There has, however, been little or no special recording of the important part played during the growth period of the method of transport of the iron ore mined at Iron Knob and conveyed to Whyalla, for shipment to all parts of the world, by the BHP tramway and the men who worked those trains. The trains that pounded and clattered and roared as they hauled their long line of wagons laden with ore were manned by men who gave their best, in work which formed a small part in the overall development of steel. Their role was equally as important as those of the men of all nationalities who blasted the ore from the face of the hill, and collected and loaded the trains for transport over the saltbush plain to the port of Whyalla. This mining went on day and night, week in and out, in summer and winter during the 1930-1940 period and which continues today although at a somewhat more leisurely pace. The drivers, firemen and railway guards were all charged with the responsibility of delivering their loads in all weathers. They faced heat waves, flash floods and blinding dust storms that reduced visibility to a few yards and made their jobs difficult to perform. The population of Whyalla was well accustomed to the rush of noise that came from the rake of trucks as they were Shunted at 'breakneck' speeds up to the crusher plant for unloading into ore bins. As each truck opened and discharged its load, they were pushed back down the crusher slope. The creaks and nerve shattering bumps was regular 'music' to residents of the small township in those early days. And then disaster! News of a rail accident in February 1937 between Whyalla and Iron Baron brought gloom to the township. An overnight downpour washed away ballast on the railway line. In the early hours of the following morning, the train attempting to use the line overturned, the driver of the locomotive, William Thomas Ring lost his life while the fireman, Dan Kingdom was injured when thrown clear as the train rolled over. Although 48 years have since passed, rusting remains of the train can still be seen on the way to Iron Baron - a mute memorial of the dangers that accompany heavy industry. The giant diesel locomotives have now superseded the coal fired steam trains. They are more powerful, quieter and more environmentally acceptable. The huge hill of ore at Iron Knob that once rose dominantly out of a flat saltbush plain, has been reduced to almost ground level. However the tramway is still a vital link between the excavation of ore and the shipping port of Whyalla. The written record of the history of this transport and the men who worked on the trains is important and should be recorded for posterity. Congratulations to the author who has made this record possible as I am sure it will be interesting to people that follow in years to come. Aileen C. Ekblom Mayor City of Whyalla EDITOR'S NOTES The Mile End Railway Museum (SA) Inc. was indeed honoured to be given the opportunity to publish BHP's cen- tenary book. Of course David Griffiths is an expert in his field and his enthusiasm to finally get this book published was certainly encouraging from our side! The Museum's connection with BHP began when they organised a steam train tour of Iron Knob and Baron in August 1964, hauled by Baldwin No. 4. This locomotive was eventually preserved at Mile End, and during 1984 a tender body was constructed to once again complete this fine exhibit. Some of the colour and black & white photographs reproduced in this publication may appear poor to a number of readers. However we believe their historic importance is far greater than if they were not used at all. A generous donation has been received from BHP and this has been put towards the production costs of the book. My personal interest in BHP at Whyalla goes back many years also. As a child our family would visit relatives in Ward Street Whyalla, and I can recall watching the trains for hours on end. Robert Sampson April 1985 – 2 – BHP Tramways Centenary History Contents FOREWORD 2 BHP AT RAPID BAY 19 EDITOR'S NOTES 2 THE POST-1945 WAR YEARS 20 INTRODUCTION 4 DIESELlSATION 21 EARLY MINING HISTORY 4 IRON BARON AND THE MAIN LINE 22 THE FIRST TRAMWAY OPERATIONS 5 THE STEELWORKS 23 THE IRON KNOB TRAMWAY - ITS BEGINNINGS 6 MORE DIESELS AND THE LAST DAYS OF STEAM 24 THE IRON KNOB MINE 9 END OF THE QUARRY TRAMWAYS 25 CONSOLIDATION OF THE TRAMWAY 9 MORE CHANGES AT WHYALLA 26 PREPARATIONS FOR THE STEELWORKS 10 THE PORT LINCOLN OPERATION 27 WARTIME PRESSURES 11 THE COMMONWEALTH RAILWAYS CONNECTION 28 POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT 12 BHP WHYALLA UPDATE 29 MODERNISATION OF THE QUARRIES 13 THE FULL CIRCLE 29 THE IRON BARON BRANCH 14 FUTURE PROSPECTS 30 IMPROVED OPERATIONS 15 LOCOMOTIVE POWER 31 IMPROVED EFFICIENCY 16 BIBLIOGRAPHY 33 DEVELOPMENT AT WHYALLA 17 – 3 – BHP Tramways Centenary History INTRODUCTION The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited was floated on 10 August 1885, when Australia was a very young country. Establishment of a heavy industry in such a remote region as Broken Hill brought with it tremendous prob- lems of transportation. In order to serve this need the South Australian Railway Commissioners built a railway line from Terowie in the mid north of South Australia to the New South Wales border and a private company connected this to the expanding mines at Broken Hill. BHP's railway links were thus forged very early in the Company's history and BHP purchased its first locomotive within five years of the Company being floated. The Company has come a long way in the last century. The Company celebrates its centenary this year and this book has been undertaken to review the association between BHP and its railway systems in South Australia. I have deliberately made no reference to the railways at the steelworks of Newcastle and Port Kembla in New South Wales. These topics have been left to those who are familiar with them. It has been necessary, however, to transgress the New South Wales border at least as far as Broken Hill, although some would argue that this is part of South Australia anyway, in order to gain a proper appreciation of the operation of BHP's rail systems. As no doubt some people have already detected, the use of the word ‘railway’ is strictly incorrect, since by act of State Parliament BHP's rail operations are in fact legally Tramways and are operated in conformance with the Tramways Act of 1884. Notwithstanding the name, however, the operations of BHP are far from small time. They were commenced decades before dieselisation and are now operators of some of the longest and heaviest trains in Australia. The advent of the new iron ore railways of the Pilbara of Western Australia has eclipsed their predeces- sor from view. This book is a history of BHP's railway operations in Broken Hill, Hummock Hill (Whyalla), Iron Knob and Iron Monarch, Wardang Island, Rapid Bay and Port Lincoln. It does not consider the tramways in isolation, but presents the railway history as a reflection of the operations of the Company and the people who worked there as a whole. David Griffiths Whyalla, 1985 EARLY MINING HISTORY From the very beginning of time, man has always sought a means of living with the expenditure of the least amount of work. The beginnings of white settlement in Australia saw a continuation of this desire. Whilst most early settlers were eking out an existence from the land by grazing or by cultivation, there was the ever present urge to ‘get rich quick’. As the frontiers of discovery were pushed back from the edges of the continent, men looked care- fully at every stone they passed, in the hope of finding gold.