Re: Cane: Tramways or Railways?

["Barry Campbell" <campblbm@ozemail.com.au>]

John Dennis wrote in message
<16bb0c9a.4941d631@usw-ex0102-016.remarq.com>...
>AFAIK all the sugar cane railways are just that these days,
>officially known as "railways".


I tried to check the status of sugar railways in the relevant acts (Sugar
Industry Act and Transport Infrastructure Act) but I can't get Acrobat to
search. IIRC they are all railways in the current legislation. One day when
I have some time I will go to one of my favourite spots (Law library - QUT -
it overlooks the river, ignore the freeway) and check repealed legislation
to see what the position used to be.
>
>The "General Tramways Act, 1884" decreed that only the government
>could build a railway - anybody else could only build tramways.
>In South Australia examples include BHP's Iron Knob (Whyalla) and
>Coffin Bay (Port Lincoln) Tramways, whilst in NSW the Silverton
>Tramway, connecting Broken Hill with the SA Border at Cockburn
>was for many years part of the direct east-west railway


J & A Brown ran a railway, the South Maitland Railway Co ran a railway both
of which were common carriers and there were odd private lines for
industrial use. The STC was called a tramway, I think, because the NSW
Colonial Government needed a face saving way of not allowing the SAR into
NSW.

The General Tramways Act 1884 was, I assume, a Sth Australian act and hence
of no effect east of Cockburn (or, more correctly, Burns).

<snip>


Barry Campbell