Buccan Railway Ballast Siding QLD Peter Cokley June 2014
One interesting tramway engineering relic from the Nineteenth Century lurking away in the semi-rural Logan Valley is Railway Ballast Reserve 219. This 166 acre Government Reserve was a quarry that during its lifetime supplied material for both rail and road construction. The Buccan Ballast Quarry line was a spur line that led off Queensland Railway’s [QR] Upper Logan line which eventually went to Beaudesert. The quarry was initially built for the construction of this 1880s line and supplied crushed rock which was laid between the sleepers and rails to provide stability and drainage for the railway track.
The Buccan Ballast spur’s location was on the eastern side of the line 24 miles 58.5 chains from South Brisbane. Buccan Station was 25 miles 57 chains from South Brisbane so the spur was about a mile north of Buccan Station. Waterford, the preceding station, was 22 miles 5 chains from South Brisbane. The spur line from the mainline to the quarry works was about 53 chains long which translates in the modern metric as 1066 metres so a little over a km long. [1] [6]
[Caption; Buccan ballast siding shown on the 1932 BrisbaneValley map] [3] http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/kk478/petanoz/Canungra/Ballast-Siding-Brisbane_Valley1932_zpsa0dada6d.jpg
The quarry spur line was initially removed after the line to Logan Village and Beaudesert opened in 1888 but was proclaimed a Reserve in 1894 in case of future need. The spur into the quarry was reinstated for the construction of the QR Logan Village to Canungra line which opened 1915. This time it remained in place till 1922, in the meantime having periodic usage supplying gravel for local council road construction. [1]
Three years later a loop siding was installed on the mainline as the quarry’s products were required by the QLD Main Roads Board. This time Queensland Railways [QR] did not reinstall their 53 chain spur but instead the QLD Main Roads Board installed a tramway from the quarry works out to the QR siding on the main line to Beaudesert and Bethania. This tramway was removed by 1931 with the QR siding removed 1937. [1]
[Caption; Buccan ballast siding shown on the 1947 Beenleigh map as a Main Roads Board Siding] [2] http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/kk478/petanoz/Canungra/Ballast-siding-1947-map_zps666a9310.jpg
The loading ramp on the main line remained until the Beaudesert line was closed. In 2002 the area was inspected by a group of rail historians as part of a Light Railway Research Society of Australia Tour. This group walked along the formation of a tramline to the loading bank. Another rail historian group inspected the area in 2014[4]
[Caption; the 1923 lease of Railway Ballast Reserve 219] [5]http://i311.photobucket.com/albums/kk478/petanoz/Canungra/Ballast-siding-sale-1923_zps1f04c8a7.jpg
Imperial Measurement conversion
Imperial Measurement conversion; The British imperial measurement system used miles and chains. 1 Mile is 1.61 Kilometres. There are 80 chains in a mile. One chain is 66 feet or 22 yards or 20.12 metres. A standard cricket pitch is one chain long.
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Bibliography
[1] Armstrong, John & Kerr John, “Destination South Brisbane”, ARHS [QLD] 1978 P.23,117
[2]Beenleigh topographic Map, Scale 1:63,360, published 1947, Courtesy State Library QLD
[3] Brisbane Valley topographic Map Scale 1:126,720,published 1932. Courtesy State Library QLD
[4] Sheehan, Danny and Betts, Owen. Personal communication.
[5] The Brisbane Courier 10APRIL1923 and The Courier-Mail21July1934 Courtesy Trove [National Library Australia]
[6] Webber, Brian “Exploring Queensland’s Railways - South from Brisbane”, ARHS [Q] 2007 P.10
Parish map [Moreton district 40 chain to the inch 5South 1927] by courtesy Dept of Natural Resources and Mines. The Moreton district 40 chain maps consulted were published pre 1930 by the Survey Office, Queensland Department of Public Lands. Initial public sales price was 2 shillings and 6 pence.
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