Online Catalogue last updated 6th of August 2026
Tramways of Tasmania’s Forestier & Tasman Peninsulas 1833 – 1976
By Tristan Joseph Verhoeff — Published by the LRRSA
Hard cover, 208 pages on art paper, A4 size, 133 illustrations, 96 maps and diagrams, references, and index.
Australia’s first passenger carrying railway, the convict powered railway on the Tasman Peninsula, is well known. That line connected Little Norfolk Bay with Long Bay, an inlet off Port Arthur, to its south.
Not so well known is that there were many other tramways on the Tasman Peninsula, and the Forestier Peninsula immediately to its north. Many of them dated from the 1830s. These tramways were mostly used for timber getting, quarrying, and transporting coal from mines to jetties. Most were horse worked, but some used locomotives, both steam and internal-combustion.
As a result of extensive research of archival documents, newspaper reports, and on-site investigations, the author has provided a comprehensive record of these tramways – mostly for the first time.
The 96 maps and diagrams include detailed modern maps with the sites of tramways, mills, and jetty sites superimposed.
Also included is a chapter on Tasman Island, and its two tramways which served the lighthouse at this very remote location. It is an eye-opening explanation of what it was like to live and work in such a remote location.
Code No. 018276, 208 pages, $56.00