Finding the Mapleton Tramline today
At the time of writing, the amateur historian or railway enthusiast may still
locate many sections of the old roadbed, embankments and cuttings, particularly
on the escarpments below Mapleton and the Highworth Range. In fact, much of the
formation can still be discerned by those who know what to look for. Only
sections excavated or otherwise disturbed by later earthworks for housing,
farming or roads are lost. There were some sections, such as along Puddle's
(Windsor) Road, where very little formation was needed. Even so, in most of
these cases the route of the permanent way may still be detected, even though
little evidence is apparent. Occasionally, wooden and steel sleepers may be found still in
position, and the occasional dog spike and length of rusted rail. A metal
detector will reveal numerous artefacts.
Some culverts remain, both concrete pipes and wooden box culverts, and some heavy timbers from bridges. Probably the best examples of the latter are the two bridges just east of Pope's Siding (about two hundred metres east of Willandra Court), which are still in a good state of preservation, and easily accessible from the Mapleton Road, though on private property. Remnants of the road bridge still exist nearby, where the road went through a
Z-bend to cross the South Maroochy River.To enable the reader to locate many of these remnants of the Mapleton Tramway, cadastral maps are included below. The maps are from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines of the Queensland State Government, and are Copyright The State of Queensland (Department of Natural Resources and Mines), 2005. The Department of Natural Resources and Mines gives no warranty in relation to the data (including accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability) and accepts no liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for any loss, damage or costs (including consequential damage) relating to any use of the data.
To these maps have been added updated data (streets and housing allotments) by the Mapping Department of the Maroochy Shire Council. These additional data are Copyright Maroochy Shire Council, 2005. The Maroochy Shire Council gives no warranty in relation to the data (including accuracy, reliability, completeness or suitability) and accepts no liability (including without limitation, liability in negligence) for any loss, damage or costs (including consequential damage) relating to any use of the data.
User Licence No. USR:2005/979 has been given by officers of the Department of Natural Resources and Mines, and the Maroochy Shire Council, permitting use of the maps on this web site, provided that they are uneditable PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view them, and is available here.
The writer has superimposed on these maps a dotted line showing the route of the tramway and its branches, and highlighted this line in yellow to assist identification. The route as marked has an accuracy of better than five metres either side of the track centre line. This dotted line is Copyright John R. Henley, Nambour, 2005. Explanations of the maps are in blue type.
It is suggested that the blue map explanations be scrolled to the bottom of your screen. Then click on the MAP DESCRIPTION that you want. An Adobe Reader page will open in a second window, showing the map. Adjust the height of this second window so that the map explanation and the MAP ITSELF
can be seen together. This technique will assist you in deciphering the maps. The scale of the maps can be adjusted by altering the [ XX % ] number in the centre of the taskbar just above the image.As described previously, aerial photographs taken in 1940 have greatly assisted in fixing the position of the tramway on the cadastral maps. They show the line quite clearly as it then existed, four years before closure. These images were taken from a height of 12 700 feet (3871 metres) in overlapping east to west passes between 10:49 and 10:51 am on 8 July 1940, a Monday. Close inspection will show washing on the clothes lines in the Nambour backyards - Monday was washing day! Permission has been granted by Geoscience Australia, owner of the copyright on these photographs, for a selection of them to be used on this website.
All of the black and white aerial photographs accessible below are Copyright Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia), 1940. They appear in their own windows, so that comparison between them and the cadastral maps can be facilitated.
Moving your mouse pointer across the lower right-hand corner of an image will activate a control button which will enable you to enlarge or reduce the size of the image.Recent satellite images of parts of the route are also provided in extra windows. These images are used with permission from Space Imaging. Most were taken in 2003, before the Mill was demolished. Since then, new estates and buildings have obliterated many of the tramway earthworks at Burnside, Highworth, Kureelpa and Mapleton. A line of white dots has been superimposed on the images to indicate the tram route. Moving your mouse pointer across the lower right-hand corner of an image will activate a control button which will enable you to enlarge or reduce the size of the image.
On the ground-level colour photographs taken by the writer, the tramway route is indicated with white dots, if it is otherwise not readily apparent.
Google Earth
™ Guide:The reader may be familiar with the freeware program Google Earth™. This provides satellite images of most parts of the world for downloading. A Broadband connection is required. The images can be panned, tilted, scrolled, zoomed and saved. Recently the images of the Mapleton Tramway area have had their resolution improved, so that objects smaller than half a metre can be discerned. The date of the imagery appears to be early to mid-2007. Many parts of the tramway roadbed can be easily followed and examined from the comfort of your chair.
The Google Earth™ images include a mouse-controlled cursor, the latitude and longitude of which are shown at the bottom left of the image. To facilitate the location of Google Earth images, each of the photographs below includes the latitude and longitude of the site shown. To start with, locate Australia on the world globe, then Nambour Railway Station at latitude
26° 37' 31.80" South, longitude 152° 57' 27.44" East. Unfortunately, at present some parts of Nambour have too low a resolution to be useful, and the Nambour Station area falls into this category. However, vastly improved definition begins just to the west of Petrie Creek, and includes all of the Mapleton Tramway except for the area around the Moreton Central Sugar Mill site and the Nambour Tramway Station.Google Earth™ is available here for free.
_____________________________________________________
The
following description of the Mapleton Tramway route will be divided into the following sections:
The Moreton Sugar Mill crushing in 2002. This was the site of the Mapleton Tramway's terminus and station in Nambour, adjoining the QR's railway station. Dots indicate the old tram route. The Mill was demolished, the tramway network torn up and the site levelled in 2004.
Key:
ACF1
= the concrete foundations remaining from the ACF-Shirley's fertiliser depot
at the tramway terminus. Numerous pictures exist of locomotives and carriages
waiting at this point.
ACF2
= a later ACF-Shirley's depot, demolished in 2004 and replaced by a fenced car
park.
QR siding = a spur running from the QR into the Mill site. Not operational
towards the end, but the junction with the QR is still visible.
Engine shed = a small open engine shed was located here on a short spur
running off the tram line.
1. The Nambour lines near the Station and the Mill
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF
THE NAMBOUR TOWN CENTRE
MAP OF THE LINE
FROM NAMBOUR STATION TO THE EASTERN END OF WINDSOR ROAD
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP, CENTRED
ON THE MORETON CENTRAL SUGAR MILL
The
Mapleton Tramway owned no buildings of any kind in Nambour, but there were a
fruit shed and two buildings owned by the ACF-Shirley's Fertiliser Company.
All three buildings were built next to the tramtrack, with platforms for
loading and unloading goods. These buildings were located near the western end
of Mill Street, where a traffic island is found today. Some concrete
foundations exist nearby, which may be the remains of the fertiliser
company's buildings. On the other hand, there was a similar fertiliser
building located about 50 metres to the south, which may be one of the
buildings shown in the old photographs. This had not been proven definitely
before the building was demolished in 2004. The site is now a small enclosed
car park. The platform where the tramway was raised above a parallel QR spur
to facilitate transhipment of goods from the tram to QR wagons and vans was
located at the western end of Mill Street, south of the Nambour Station
platform.
From the Station, the tramway headed south, converging slightly towards the QR North Coast Line. It crossed a QR siding leading into the sugar mill and continued south between the mill and the QR main line. A culvert where this QR siding crossed from the QR right-of-way into the Moreton Mill grounds still exists at the boundary.
As the Mapleton Tramway approached the western end of Mitchell Street, it swung left in a gentle curve and headed downhill towards the intersection of Mill Lane and Jose Street. A present-day small deviation in the roadway of Mill Lane at its intersection with Jose Street is due to the tramway alignment at that point, Mill Lane not joining Arundell Avenue until after this part of the tramway was lifted in 1971. This deviation is indicated by an angled bend in the footpath and kerbing on the northern-eastern corner of these two streets.
Photo 1: Looking south from the tramway route, 50 metres west of the corner of Mill Lane and Mitchell Street.
The line then swung to the right, heading for the underpass where Arundell Avenue passes beneath the QR. It ran alongside the avenue and beneath the railway bridge for about 50 metres on its northern side, but then swung sharply left to cross the avenue. A gravel road now exists at this point, the entrance being seen below the left hand side of the bridge in the picture below. A set of points facing Mapleton was located here, and led to a siding which ran north up what is now Colless Lane to a sawmill which still stands. The entrance to this lane is visible just beyond the right-hand bridge pier in the picture below.
The spur continued past the sawmill to a deadend or head shunt at a point near the
southern end of today's Price Street. Well before the deadend there was a
set of points, trailing to a tram heading north. The track from these points
headed south, then swung to the right through a wide semicircle until it was
heading north again. The line then immediately swung left through ninety
degrees until it was heading almost due west, and crossed Petrie Creek on a
high bridge. It then entered the cane fields where the Sundale Retirement
Village now stands, and terminated near Doolan Street. No evidence of this
line remains, but one pier of the bridge still stands on the western bank of
the creek, 200 paces along the concrete walking path which runs downstream
along Petrie Creek's west bank from Carter Road. Within a few metres, both
earthen abutments of the bridge are still visible.
2.
The main line from Arundell Avenue in Nambour to Highworth
MAP OF THE LINE FROM ARUNDELL AVENUE ALONG WINDSOR ROAD, WITH THE BRANCH TO PERWILLOWEN
Explanation of Map from right to left: At the centre right margin, the route from Nambour Station passes under the Arundell Avenue QR railway bridge. It crosses Petrie Creek and passes around two sides of the house once owned by a Mr Jakat. The line then crosses Perwillowen Road and runs west along Windsor Road to a point near the entrance to the Cooloola Sunshine Institute of Technical and Further Education (CSIT). At this point the Perwillowen Branch turns off, heading south-west to cross Whalley Creek, and then continues in a more-or-less westerly direction. The main line follows Windsor Road as it climbs towards Highworth.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE AREA SHOWN IN THE MAP ABOVE
(image
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP, CENTRED ON THE PETRIE CREEK BRIDGE AND
JAKAT'S HOUSE
From the Arundell Avenue underpass, the route heads south for a short distance as described above. The line then swings to the south-west along a low embankment leading to a bridge over Petrie Creek. This embankment is best seen from the footpath on the south side of the road bridge where Arundell Avenue crosses Petrie Creek. The tramway bridge, a substantial timber structure of four spans, was demolished in 1971.
Photo 3:
The bridge over Petrie Creek looking south-west, with Jakat's house beyond.
Heading
south for a short distance, it then curves round to the right, to skirt
Jakat's house on its eastern and southern sides. Mr Jakat lived here in the
1930s, and his house is still much the same as it was then.
Photo 5: Mr Jakat's house in 2002. (latitude 26° 37' 55.34" S, longitude 152° 57' 14.52" E).
Photo
6: The
roundabout at the junction of Perwillowen Road at left, and Windsor (Puddle's)
Road running off to the right.
No earthworks were needed from this point as far as the foot of the climb to Highworth, as the land is flat and almost level. Behind the Nambour Special School and Gospel Church, two bridges over Whalley Creek have been made with rails by persons unknown. Some of the rails are cast iron and dated in the 1870s, so they were purchased second-hand before being used on the tramway. The date when they were salvaged from the tramway is unknown. Sometimes they are clearly visible, at other times covered with flood debris. Some sections of portable track and other rails can be found lying in the undergrowth nearby.
Opposite the entrance to the Cooloola Sunshine Institute of Technical and Further Education (CSIT), there was a loop where trams could cross. Rakes of cane trucks could be temporarily stored there before being taken to the Mill. At this point there was a junction. The main line to Mapleton goes straight ahead, but soon curves to the right as it begins the climb up to Highworth. Windsor Road follows the route exactly until near its end. The branch to Perwillowen turns left and heads south-west through the Rotary Garden Village towards a second crossing of Whalley Creek.
Photo
9: The site of the
junction with the Perwillowen branch, looking west, at the start of the climb
to Highworth.
Trams heading
up the Perwillowen branch took the left hand route at the junction. They
headed south-west, and crossed Whalley Creek before heading generally west.
The remains of this bridge, including a length of rail and a
concrete-reinforced abutment, can be seen about thirty metres due south of the
Rotary Garden Village's croquet lawn. The route of this branch to
its terminus is
covered in Section 9.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING THE ROUTE FROM THE MILL THROUGH BURNSIDE, THE
JUNCTION TO PERWILLOWEN< AND THE START OF THE CLIMB UP WINDSOR ROAD TOWARDS
HIGHWORTH
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP, SHOWING A TRAM JUST EAST OF THE JUNCTION TO
PERWILLOWEN
(image
Returning
to the main line, it curves right and begins to climb along the crest of a
rising ridge, with the land falling away on either side. Puddle's house,
an old Queenslander, is
passed on the right.
MAP OF THE CLIMB UP WINDSOR ROAD FROM THE ROTARY GARDEN VILLAGE TO HIGHWORTH
Explanation of Map from right to left: At the lower right is the junction between the Perwillowen Branch and the main line, near the entrance of today's Rotary Garden Village. The main line follows Windsor Road upgrade, along the crest of a spur. Soon after crossing Henebery Road there is a trailing junction to the Image Flat Branch. The Mapleton Tramline follows the Nambour-Mapleton Road on its southern side, in a short level section.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH SHOWING THE ROUTE FROM PERWILLOWEN JUNCTION UP THE
FIRST STAGE OF THE HIGHWORTH RANGE ASCENT, TO THE MAPLETON ROAD LEVEL CROSSING
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP OF THE ROUTE, CENTRED ON THE HIGHWORTH LOOP AND
JUNCTION TO IMAGE FLAT
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP, CENTRED ON THE DEEP CUTTING BELIEVED TO BE THE
40 FEET DEEP ONE
The northern part of Windsor Road deviates to the right from the tram route. Roadworks in 2004 have buried part of a cutting in this area, but it partially remains, with some wooden sleepers still in position.
Photo
13: Sleepers still in position on the roadbed. This section was partially
covered by soil during adjacent roadworks in 2003.
The tram route swings left and crosses a gully to head almost due west. A farmer's dam is almost on the formation. The route at this point is heading towards a low hill which is too steep to climb. This is where the 40 feet deep curved cutting was located. The original surveyor, Henry Pope, proposed a tunnel for this section, but the contractor claimed it "would not stand" and the cutting was used instead.
This long cutting crossed a large paddock and headed for the junction of Henebury Road and Mapleton Road. After the Mapleton Tramway was closed and the tracks lifted, the cutting was completely filled in as it divided the paddock in two. This paddock runs south from the road junction, its northern boundary being a high electricity transmission pylon carrying the Palmwoods-Traveston high-tension power lines.
Photo
14: The site of the 40 feet deep cutting, now filled in and almost
obliterated.
The only remnant of the deep cutting (apart from a slight discontinuity in the paddock's slope) is at the paddock's eastern boundary, where a section between one and two metres deep was not completely filled in, the banks still being visible. This remnant is adjacent to the farmer's dam previously referred to.
Photo
15: The eastern remnant of the 40 feet deep cutting, with the farmer's dam
visible behind the trees in the background.
The
route now crosses Henebery Road heading
north-west, and a house has been built on the formation at this point. This
spot, known as Highworth, had a trailing junction which led to the Image
Flat branch, which will be described in Section 10.
3.
The main line from Highworth up the first range to Kureelpa Falls Road
MAP OF THE CLIMB FROM HIGHWORTH, ROUND THE HORSESHOE CURVE AND ALONG THE RANGE
Explanation of Map from right to left: At t
he lower right, the line crosses Henebery Road (here spelt 'Hennebury') and passes the trailing junction to the Image Flat Branch at Highworth. This branch, with its seven spurs, runs through country to the north of Highworth. It is discussed later. The main line follows the Nambour-Mapleton Road on its southern side, then crosses that road at the site of a level crossing and follows the northern boundaries of some housing allotments. There is a steep drop to the creek just to the north. The tramline then turns south, crosses the creek and back again, and then swings round through 230 degrees in the famous Horseshoe Curve, crossing the creek a third time. The route then climbs north along the spurs of the Highworth Range.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE AREA COVERED IN THE ABOVE MAP
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP, FROM THE MAPLETON ROAD CROSSING UP THE
HIGHWORTH RANGE
After crossing Henebery Road, the route then approaches Mapleton Road, and follows it quite closely on its south side (only ten metres or so from the road fence) until it crosses the Mapleton Road at a bend formerly known as 'Captain's Corner'. A large pond and a tennis court are on the left. An unprotected level crossing was located here. The house at the corner sits squarely on the old tram roadbed, partially in a cutting which can be observed behind the house.
Photo 16:
The site of the first level crossing on the Mapleton Road, at the former 'Captain's Corner'.
Photo 17: The roadbed behind the house at Captain's Corner.
Behind the house at Captain's Corner, the line was carried on a shelf cut into the northern slopes of a hill. The Nambour-Mapleton Road is built along the southern slopes of the same hill, and both road and tramway come together again at the site of the horseshoe curve. Murtagh's residence was between the two, on the top of this hill, at what is now No. 346, Mapleton Road.
The tramway uphill from Captain's Corner runs along the southern boundary of a cattle property, climbing along its shelf with an uphill slope to the south and a steep slope to a creek below to the north. This creek, known variously as Perry Creek or Rocky Creek, has its source above the horseshoe curve, and runs from there just below tramway level, passing under the horseshoe bridge and two other tramway bridges. Soon its slope increases sharply so that it drops to about 10 metres below the track. The creek then passes over a 10 metre high waterfall and turns sharply east into a short but precipitous gorge, until its valley opens out above Captain's Corner. To the left of the climbing tramway are the back fences of 14 housing allotments which occupy the whole of the hill.
Persons wishing to follow the tram route in this Highworth section must first obtain permission from the genial owner of the cattle property on which the route is located. The tramway formation forms the southern and western boundary of the property, the fence line being on the left side of the formation, facing uphill.
As the tramway climbs, it bears slightly to the right, following the creek upstream which is about 20-25 metres below, in its gorge. The left bank is steep in places, and the tram formation is cut into these parts so that there is a wall to the left, three to five feet high. Some of these cuts are into solid basalt rock. The slope to the right descends dramatically into the gorge. When the tram route reaches a point about due north of the hill's summit, it suddenly swings sharply round through ninety degrees to the south, for the creek does the same. A 10 metre high waterfall here is spectacular after rain, and from now on the creek becomes closer in height to the tramway. This is the sharp bend overhanging the gorge that so frightened the reporters from the Queensland Agricultural Journal when they hurtled round it on a cane trolley in 1903. Even today it looks very dangerous, as a derailment here would likely precipitate the whole tram - locomotive, vans, wagons, kit and caboodle - down into the gorge, from which salvage would be almost impossible and rescue fraught with difficulty. About 100 metres south of the ninety-degree bend, the creek performs a sharp S-bend and turns south-east hard against the steep slope of the hill, leaving no room there for the tramway. The tram route therefore crosses to the opposite side of the creek and then back again over two single-span bridges, the first of which has a single rotted bearer still in position, and the second of which has disappeared completely, save for traces of the south-eastern abutment.
The
route now swings to the right (west) to enter a sharp bend which will turn the tram
around completely.
MAP OF THE CLIMB FROM HIGHWORTH UP TO DOIG'S POINT AND BEYOND
Explanation of Map from right to left:
The main line follows the Nambour-Mapleton Road on its southern side, then crosses that road at the site of a level crossing and follows the northern boundaries of some housing allotments. There is a steep drop to the creek just to the north. The tramline then turns south, crosses the creek and back again, and then swings round through 230 degrees in the famous Horseshoe Curve, crossing the creek a third time. The route then climbs north along the spurs of the Highworth Range. It climbs along a large spur, and swings to the left around this spur in a semicircle, to head south. The line then swings to the west, climbing along the contours of the land, until it passes under Kureelpa Falls Road in a deep cutting. This is Doig's point. The next mile of track runs downhill, 'Doig's Bank', heading almost north.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE AREA COVERED IN THE ABOVE MAP
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP OF THE CLIMB FROM HIGHWORTH TO KUREELPA FALLS
ROAD
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP , FROM THE MAPLETON ROAD LEVEL CROSSING HALF-WAY
UP THE HIGHWORTH RANGE
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH CLOSE-UP , FROM THE GORGE TO THE HALF_WAY POINT
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH ULTRA CLOSE-UP OF THE LINE SHOWN IN PHOTOS 18 TO 32
Photo 19: The horseshoe curve and the start of the climb up the Highworth escarpment in 1903.
Photo 20: The same stretch of line during the drought of 2004, which revealed many artefacts.
Photo 21: The same stretch of line as it usually appears, in the good season of 2006.
Photo 22: The regular tram behind Mapleton descends the horseshoe curve.
Photo
24: The area of the horseshoe in normal conditions, flooded and
overgrown.
In a dry season, the pond dries up, and if the undergrowth is cleared away, the remains of two large bearers of the horseshoe bridge become visible. A drought in 2004 revealed the bridge for the first time in many years, but good rains have since caused the relics to be hidden in the undergrowth once more. All the remains of bridges show that they were held together with long square-headed bolts, with large square washers and square nuts. Even when the timbers have rotted away completely, the long bolts are still commonly seen at the sites.
Photo 25
: The horseshoe bridge in 2004.
Photo 27: Two people add scale to the bridge.
Photo 28: The cutting through basalt immediately uphill from the horseshoe bridge.
Immediately after the horseshoe bridge is a cutting carved through solid volcanic rock. The route now heads north along a ridge running north-east from the main escarpment. Rounding a small spur which overlooks the horseshoe, there is a section where a small landslide has carried away the formation. The tramway straightens up for a short section, which is the site of a well-known photograph showing the Dulong heading downhill with an excursion train (below).
Photo 29: A tram with about 120 people riding on benches bolted to 12 cane trucks descends the Highworth Range behind the Dulong locomotive.
Photo 30: Men lined up on the tram route as the same spot just above the horseshoe curve - note car on Mapleton Road.
Photo 31: The narrow bench in the slope where the
tramway was laid.
Photo 32: A view from the
tramline in Photo 31, across the gully to the photographer at the point where Photos 29 and
30 were
taken, also on the tramline where it heads east before swinging north. See the
ultra close-up aerial photo below.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH ULTRA CLOSE-UP OF THE SITE OF PHOTOS 29 TO 32 - (P = photographer, S = subject)
The route then swings right at the head of a gully. The formation has been damaged at this point by construction of a small earth dam, but the remains of a low single-span bridge are visible. This is followed by another deep cutting, with deep rock walls on both sides. The route climbs around two more spurs and crosses two more bridges (some timbers and bolts evident) before entering a remarkable curved cutting where the gradient eases (Photo 35). Just past this cutting the line straightens out and is almost level, and there are wonderful views over Image Flat and down the Petrie Creek valley to the Pacific Ocean.
Photo
34: A landslip has filled in part of the cutting.
Photo 35: A second cutting, higher up the escarpment.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH ULTRA CLOSE-UP OF THE SITE OF PHOTO 36
At this point (marked with the left-hand orange dot on photo 37) the route has turned through a right-angle and now runs north-west along a promontory into rural residential properties. From here on it crosses such private land, until nearly at Mapleton. It climbs along the side of the promontory until it reaches the end (marked with the right-hand orange dot). The route then turns sharply left through 180 degrees and heads south-east along the western slope of the promontory.
1940 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ROUTE SHOWING THE CLIMB ALONG THE PROMONTORY IN PHOTO 38 (above) TO DOIG'S POINT AND PHOTO
42
The formation continues to climb along the side of this promontory, heading south, then west and south again. It swings right through 170 degrees across a gully, at the point where the promontory joins the Highworth escarpment, and then heads north, climbing along that escarpment to the summit at Doig's Point. This part of the climb is shown by two smaller white dots in the distance at right in the photo above, and three white dots in the foreground of the photo below.
Photo 40: This image is believed to show the Mapleton rounding the end of the promontory seen in Photo 38. Photograph courtesy Sunshine Coast Libraries
The picture above shows the tram route rounding the end of the promontory, heading south, and then heading north along the edge of the escarpment, just below Kureelpa Falls Road. The white dot at left centre corresponds with the right-hand orange dot in Photo 25. Approaching the summit, three houses have been built on the formation, and two of then used the roadbed as access driveways.
The deep cutting where the tramway passed under Kureelpa Falls Road was filled in about forty years ago. The entrance of the house at No. 103 on that road is on the alignment, and on the opposite, west side of the road, a driveway curving downhill round to the north-west is exactly on the tramway centre-line. This is the top of Doig's Bank.
Photo
41: The
route passed underneath Kureelpa Falls Road in a deep cutting at No. 103. This
was the summit of the tram's climb up the Highworth Range and was known as
Doig's Point.
Photo 42
: The route heads north-west down Doig's Bank from Doig's Point, taken from Lot 2, Kureelpa Falls Road, opposite No. 103. The gravelled driveway follows the tram route exactly.