Bell Hill mill tramway explained

Bell Hill mill tramway was a bush tramway at Bell Hill in the Moana Region of the Grey District on the West Coast of New Zealand. The tramway with a track gauge of was used in the 1910s.

History

The Bell Hill mill was owned by Brownlee and Company and opened in the second decade of the 20th century.^[1] At times the mill closed down due to lack of water for the mill's boilers and for dampening down sawdust.^{[2] [3]} In 1947 the mill was threatened by fire.^[4]

Locomotives

The Johnson locomotive was built in Invercargill in 1906.^[5]

External links

• Lake Brunner Sawmilling Coy's Mill at Bell Hill
• "Barclay" bush train, Lake Brunner sawmill, 1960
• Bush loco crash, Jack Bros., tram
• Log hauling tramway from Lake Haupiri to Bell Hill mill
• Roads
• Brownlies Band Mill at Bell Hill

Further literature

• Daniel Reese: Was It All Cricket? George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1948, London.

References

-42.5578°N 171.5467°W

Notes and References

1. Orchard . John . 1987 . A short history of sawmilling in the Nydia Bay Area . Journal of the Nelson and Marlborough Historical Societies . 2 . 1 . New Zealand Electronic Text Centre.
2. News: 17 January 1928 . Local and general . 4 . Grey River Argus . 21 June 2022.
3. News: 21 January 1928 . News in brief . 24 . Otago Daily Times . 21 June 2022.
4. News: 15 February 1947 . Untitled . 6 . Press . 21 June 2022.
5. https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.461129 Timber workers by a Johnson steam locomotive, West Coast.