Convict tramway

The 19th-century convict tramway, in Tasmania, used trusted prisoners from the Port Arthur convict settlement as motive power.¹ Constructed to bypass the hazardous sea voyage from Hobart to Port Arthur,^23: 27 it was the first "railed way" in Australia to carry passengers and general freight.^{43note 1}

The line, of unknown gauge, was constructed under the supervision of the penal settlement's commandant, Captain Charles O'Hara Booth.⁶ Opened in 1836, it ran for 8 kilometres (5 miles) from Oakwood to Taranna.² An unconfirmed report said that the line continued to Eaglehawk Neck; if this were so, its length would have been more than doubled.

The tramway carried freight, with a capacity of half a ton, and passengers, on wooden rails. The track formation was not levelled but followed the natural elevation of the ground; on descending a hill the runners were permitted to ride on the vehicle. One team of convicts – usually three in number – could complete up to three round trips per day, carrying freight in both directions. If he proved trustworthy, a convict was eventually rewarded with permission to access less restricted parts of the colony.⁷

The date of the line's closure is unknown; the penal settlement closed in 1877.⁸