Bush Mill Railway

The Bush Mill Railway was a 15 in (381 mm) gauge miniature railway, situated 2 km (1.2 mi) from Port Arthur, in Tasmania. It opened in 1986.^[1]

Locomotive Mountaineer stands outside the Bush Mill Railway Depot in January, 1987

Replica of K1, the first Garratt locomotive, operating at the Bush Mill Railway

Route

The Bush Mill Railway climbed steeply through a series of loops and zig zags up a hillside, then across a spectacular Serpentine Bridge. A half-size replica of the K1 was constructed to operate on the line in 1990. The prototype K1 was the world's first Garratt locomotive, built for the North-East Dundas Tramway on Tasmania's west coast. ^[2]

Settlement

A replica settlement was established which featured a 19th-century sawmill and a number of items which were directly related to the logging tramways which once dotted much of Tasmania.^[3]

It closed on 30 June 2004.

Locomotives

Name	Built	Year	Wheel Arrangement	Current railway	Notes
K3	Bush Mill Railway	1990	0-4-0+0-4-0	Perrygrove Railway	model of the first Garratt locomotive. In the summer of 1993 it visited the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway and the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Mountaineer	W.van der heiden	1972	0-4-0 + tender	Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway
DA1	Bush Mill Railway	1986	0-4-0	Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway	Diesel locomotive

The Railway also had 5 semi-open coaches and 2 coal wagons, these became part of the collection at the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway and the coaches have now moved on to the Sherwood Forest Railway

References

1. The Railway News Vol.53 No.2 July 2004 p46
2. The Railway News Vol.45 No. 6 December 1993 p147
3. The Railway News Vol.49 No.2 June/July, 1997 p50