Walking Brisbane's LOST Railway Line - The Belmont Tramway
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Yes, you could once get a train from Norman Park station to Carindale. It's been gone for nearly a century, but today - I walked it.
#brisbane #carindale #brisbanehistory
Make sure your viewing setting is on 4K!
To be honest they should've put that line from Norman Park down Stanley St thru to Creek Rd.
Thank you Rob for showing the memorial to Michelle, the cyclist who lost her life. I don’t know Michelle and didn’t know of her before your video, but having lost my brother at age 39, it means so much to me when I know others have taken a moment to remember him.
What a great irony that it would be a very highly used line if it existed today - a stop right outside Carindale! Incredible.
Surely we’re due for a Rob fan group meet up at the camp hill hotel!
👍🏻
I'm up for it!
Respect the time and effort put into these videos; great work mate once again
Must have driven or walked along/past these places a thousand times over the past 10 years but never stopped to take in the history. Thanks Rob for shining a fresh light on the area. Would love to see you explore the Bulimba/Balmoral/Morningside region at some point!
I have work at 6am… but rob uploaded…so I guess I’m gonna be late!
RUclips does throw in a gem every now and then. Grew up in Carindale not far from that Bulimba Creek, had a childhood girlfriend just off Oateson Skyline Dr, driven down Old Cleveland Road a million times and even went to the QCA. Not once did I notice those tram signs. Thank you Rob for enlightening me! I really hope the new Brisbane Metro utilises those old tram lines on Old Cleveland Road to some degree, even if just for nostalgia's sake.
Back in the 90's they widened Old Cleveland Rd. In doing so they removed an historical marker from the old tramway. It mistakenly ended up at Whites Hill dump where it was luckily fished out by a local resident I believe who noticed it on the pile one weekend.
Thank you. I do like trains. I love the abandoned lines too. The old grain transport lines around the Wimmera, are stunning. Hard to find, but they go through many scrub areas. Beautiful to see.
Great walk Rob. Michelle at 18:37min was a nurse riding home from work when an unsecured steel beam fell from a truck and bounced then hit her in the back. She never knew what happened and apparently neither did the truck driver. Witnessed by the motorist behind who stopped to assist. No charges laid, not accident but a preventable tragedy
You are a mine of information. You research it all very well. Thanks, Rob
A bit further out, you have the bushland known as Belmont scrub - a recall a story that Petrie the explorer actually got lost in there for several days.
Another History point - you passed close to Camp Hill - So called because people bringing their cattle in to be sold from around Cleveland, would "camp" there before the final run into the meat sale yards.
Actually Petrie was not lost in the Belmont scrub area but used the high point (now Mt Petrie) to get his bearings. Yes, he and his party were lost but a bit earlier in their journey. On siting the (now Mt Petrie) he decided to climb in to regain their bearings.
There's kangaroos up there
What a shame it was never kept ! Travelled along Old Cleveland Road for many years of my life in the 90's and never knew this story - Thank you !
@walkaboutwithrob I grew up in the area as did my family. The brick gates mentioned at 16:00 were built about 20 years ago for seemingly no purpose, so they are of no historical value. However, the disused road going through them is indeed the original Old Cleveland Road. The original alignment of Old Cleveland Road used part of what is now Naracott Street and part of the disused pavement before the cutting was constructed in the late 1970's.
The site of the Springfield Station is correct, though I never knew that was it's name. The Wool Scour was on the opposite side of Old Cleveland Road as the station, in the location of what is now Harvey Norman.
Really cool to see my old area where I grew up in the 70s to ATs(80s). In the 70s there was still the cutting coming up from Bulimba creek almost under what is now the outbound lanes of Old Cleveland Rd and the ultimate end of the line was about 25 metres back from the road in what I think was Lawler's paddock (it still had the end of the line stops there until the town house development behind those so attractive tin fences). Old Cleveland Rd used to go around that hill where that big cutting goes through before Creek Rd and I believe that was what you were following for a bit (Broadway St?) where Old Cleveland Rd reduced to 2 lanes for the rest of the way to Capalaba. The cutting and duplication happened before the 82 Commonwealth Games. Also good to see my old house just before the shops on the corner of Scrub Rd.
Thanks again.
Thanks Rob .. really enjoyed this one….
Saw you Sunday walking on old Cleveland Road
I notice all the Poinciana trees are flowering in the video, which indicates to me old mate has walked this trek around Dec-Jan. I admire your fitness and resilience to be willing to walk this far in Brisbane’s summer heat that time of year.. 😝👍
Yeh i grew up i that area and had some interest in the Belmont tramway when I was a yong bloke
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I remember that brick gateway up near Naracot st being built ..... seemed for no apparant purpose.
There was never anything up there.
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There was and still exists the cutting for the old railway right beside the current road bridge, though these days it is pretty much overgrown.
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Prior to the redevelopment on the site, the Station masters house/ post office could clearly seen with the eartworks beside for the turn around triangle, across the road from the Belmont school.
Spotted again!
As you surmised, the line did indeed travel on the other side of the oval. On the northern corner of Halland Tce and Wiles St, you'll notice that the corner block has a diagonal boundary line, which stands out compared to the other blocks on Halland Tce. That diagonal line is an echo of the former tramway right of way. If you're able to navigate your way through the Qimagery site, you'll come across a 1946 aerial shot of the area, which clearly shows the former path that the tramway took.
A nice late night video, but man, thank you, you've peaked my interest in local history. I would love to see something to do with the browns plains area, but I will continue to watch everything you upload 😍.
Honestly the same!
At 16 minutes the gates mark out what was the original Old Cleveland Road. That part of the road would have followed the original cutting of the Belmont Tramway that would have been ripped up in the years past. As a child, I travelled on that section of the road in the school bus back in the 70s.
The gates were erected in the 2000s for what purpose, I have not been able to find out. By the1980s, Old Cleveland Road cut through the hill that now forms the current alignment.
Great work Rob
…Rob, are you aware the reason for the tram lines still visible at the bend at Carina? Back from the road, at the ‘apex’ of the curve, lived Clem Jones, former Mayor of Brisbane, & he wanted to remember the trams, so tram track lines were kept in the bitumen.
The ‘cutting bend’ close to Creek Rd, atop it was where Old Cleveland Road originally ran along that bend. When construction started in 1977, for Carindale Shopping Centre, the road at that portion was ‘straightened’.
Know all this bc lived in ‘Greenmeadows Estate’ from 1973. Residents’ were asked to come & collect rocks from the bulldozing of the land for C S C, so have got several beautiful pieces’ of history from foundations’ of C S C!
Thanks for the tour Rob!
great video as always rob. out east brisbane could do with some public transport infrastructure
the entire city.. the council run busses don’t coordinate with QR. just an appalling situation. 🤠
@@jesusislukeskywalker4294 yeah unfortunately is the case. 1960s did a tool on road planning and the like
I've bought many cheap coffee's at that coles express 😂
I went to QCA too! Must admit, I don't think I've been back to the area since I finished in 1987! Good times there. I'd forgotten that I once lived in Norman Park...'getting older, is great' 😁👀
Where has the time gone ? I went to St Thomas School Camp hill from 1975 - 1979 . You do a great job Rob . Thanks for the memories .
Your right about Narracot St. It was the old route of Old Cleveland Rd.
I remember riding the tram in the 60s when I was little. We lived at Carina and walked up Mayfield Rd to catch the tram in the middle of Old Cleveland Rd. Was brilliant in summer because it was completely open sided tram car. Us kids thought it was amazing, my poor mum would trying to keep my over excited older brother in his seat, lest he goes out the side. Love your walks and explores Rob.
@annebynon Thanks so much! Open sided trams for the cool and common sense kept everyone safe and cool back then.
Great stuff.
Good one bloke enjoyed that 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks 👍
Another brilliant video Rob the way you craft these educational together is just perfect mate you have a rare talent.
Gosh, thanks!!
Feeling quite chuffed Rob to have turned 65 this month and with your video learnt two new words today...craptacular and fell monger. Enjoyed that walk with you.
I have a street library and can confirm that Danielle Steel and Wilbur Smith both seem to make regular appearances.. as does fifty shades 😂 No one wants to take them either!
Another great video, thanks. I so much enjoy the history of where I’ve called home (Brisbane) for 30 odd years now.
Thank you! Can I have the Fifty Shades copy?
@@walkaboutwithrob haha there’s so many of them floating around you could have 10!
Can't believe there was a line in 1912. Illuminating actually. ❤
I had no idea about it until a few weeks ago. Shows how easily something so vast can so quickly disappear.
@@walkaboutwithrobindeed
I enjoyed your vid. Back in 1971-77 I was a student at Camp Hill State Primary School, so you were walking around where I grew up. That corner store on Ferguson Rd? I used to go there and play video games on the way to school. The other corner store on Old Cleveland Rd just before the Camp Hill Hotel? That was "Kids Korner"... a bunch of kids from the school would sneak out at lunch time, buy chips and so on. The hotel used to shut for a few hours on sundays (all pubs did back then) and I used to skateboard in the car park. Oh and you're right, Old Cleveland Rd used to follow the line of the tramway round that hill before Carindale was built. As far as I know the old road's still there.
Thanks for a really interesting video. My father was born in Norman Park in 1911. I can remember dad telling us about the old train line that used to go through Belmont. You have filled in lots of gaps for me.
A walk and talk with you is amazing. Love your videos. thanks
Thank you! I just sharing my passion of local history with everyone.
Really interesting video thanks Rob.
The production speed is insane!
@willshirley3830 that's an interesting comment. Do you mean how fast I shot and edited it, or the overall editing style?
@@walkaboutwithrob I recall you were only filming yesterday (Sunday). Editing it all together so well in 24ish hours is a monumental effort! Fantastic! I got out in my car to try and find you but had no luck 😂
Thank you, great story! My family lived at the opposite end of Dickenson Street mid 1950 'til late 1986. My mum pushed my twin brothers up the dirt road (Dickenson Street) in the late 1950s-early 1960s to get the Tram to visit her mum at East Brisbane. Mum would leave the pram at the Belmont "Terminus' and retrieve it on her return. I was in High School when Carindale Shop was built and I remember the original Old Cleveland Road on the hill (brings back good memories, thankyou) and the Video Store (VHS/Beta) opposite the "Belmont Tram" sign (might have been where the massage shop is).
Great video
Used to live in Carina till April 2017 and the signs around there never saw before. Recall push bike thing. Just for trivia Clem Jones lord mayor used live near camp hill hotel or red rooster after he retired.
Oops 2016.
OMG! You went to where I used to live all those decades ago. YAY!!! Thank you!
Another great short documentary Rob.
It would be nice to see your shows on the idiot box .
Hey Rob, I knew nothing about this, great story, thanks. That cutting at Carindale is on my list for a video on the geology. T-Rocks
It would be perfect for your series on road cuttings.
OMG you filmed this right around the corner from my workplace - please come and present a story to us!
Love you did this! My family have lived in the area since around the early 1900s and am guessing that my great grandfather might've worked at the old wool scour (as thats what his occupation was listed as), and my grandfather grew up in that area (he used to talk about playing around the creek just there). The dead end road above the cutting near Carindale is the old - Old Cleveland Road, which used to wind across the hill and then towards the now Carindale shopping centre and the straighten up to rejoin the current Old Cleveland Rd. Don't recall ever seeing what those brick things were for... Also of note was behind the Camp Hill pub was briefly the site of a US Military (Naval) hospital during WW2. Filled in some gaps in my knowledge THANK YOU!🥰
Correct John, yes remember my parents saying something about the Naval hospital in that location
Rob i love this sort of linear history plus its likes it keeps you fit and you got a start and a finish line scuse the Pun and then you have the prize then hob knobing at Camp Hill hotel and i think one can see the fireworks during Riverfire and or New Years Eve/Day night from up here im been told by the news so many times.
MY FATHER IN CHRIST, HOW ARE YOU NOT OBSESSED WITH RAILWAYS, the history is amazing. Ipswich station has a few plaques devoted to the original railway
I'd kill for a rob tour around the ipswich train museum
If I had the world's most powerful microscope, I still could not find my interest in trains.
@@walkaboutwithrob I guess there is a void in the Queensland historical RUclips space that needs to be filled, might give it a try 😊
@@walkaboutwithrobI cannot believe how you dislike trains, but like train lines.
Few years ago I was really interested in the train lines. Because I took a train from the gold coast to Brisbane whilst railworks were on and realised we have a Tennyson station that is completely abandoned. Made me wanna know more.
Good one Rob
Thanks for the video Rob. I loved the style you did it in as it felt like we were walking with you!
Thanks indeed! It was a fun one to make. I'll endeavour to do more like this.
@@walkaboutwithrob it's nice to switch it up now and again 😊 Belmont was one of the towns I grew up in. I remember going to a little shopping centre near my house with 50 cents and getting a whole bag of lollies...couldn't do that now haha. Might get one or 2 if you're lucky 😅
Really enjoy your vids, Just wondering if you'll do any northside suburbs of Brisbane in the near future ,,,i live at Petrie we do have old Petrie Town up here that has heaps of history
Am very keen to explore Petrie. An area I currently know little about.
Thank you for the new video, really enjoyed watching and thank you for taking us on the journey. If I could request an episode it would be the Historic town of Landsborough. Many people think it is just a drive-thru up to Maleny Hinterland or uo to the sunshine coast. heaps of activities from bush walks and museum and plenty of places to eat as well country style pub, bakery and butcher. But it is worth the stop and have a look. Love your channel keep up the great work.
Noted!
Great vid Rob, I also love exploring closed train lines and I think you should definitely consider doing some more around Brissy. They were so important for the people of the day, and the stories those little tracks of land have are amazing when you think about it.
Couple videos in a row now that you've bumped into a fan.
Only so much time left until we'll be doing walkabout with Mob
That really cracked me up. 🤣🤣
Great vid, I can still remember the smell from that slaughter house on the creek as a kid in the 1960s
Loved that Rob. I was QCA student too. And a terrible one at that. I live in coorparoo now and drive to chandler a few days a week and always look at that section of tram line and yes that section of road is a bastard to cross. Thanks for video.
No I am not Suffering Rob But I have enjoyed this episode. Great Vlog Rob, Thank you for taking us along.
Hi Rob, I have enjoyed watching your video on the Belmont tramline. If I may, let me add a couple of points of interest for you as I lived in Artemis Ave from 1952 for 17 years, moving to & still at Scrub Rd Carindale. Starting at Seven Hills, the corner of D'arcy Rd & Kensington Ave the train line ran through a cutting which was between the existing bitumen of D'arcy Rd & the fence of the houses opposite, where there is now car parking. The cutting had been partly filled & a depression was still visible until the carpark was constructed.
I believe the line followed on the low side of Oatson Skyline Dve, (us locals still refer to it as Skyline Dve), to Artemis Ave. I believe the line crossed the out bound Skyline Dve somewhere around the station at Claudia Rd, as the ground level was a consistant gradiant and both the in bound & out bound of Skyline Dve did & still follow the the natural shape of the land. The current outbound road was originally two way & the lower roas was access to the houses.
From the intersection of Skyline Dve & Ferguson Rd, the line headed past the bowls club to approximately the intersection of Wiles St & Halland Tce, then across to Ferguson Rd between the fence of the Infant's school & the substation. We would walk through the cutting on the way home from school.
The line skirted around Narracott St towards the PCYC & the original bitumen road is still visible near the PCYC
When I moved to then Belmont there was just a two way road approximately where the inbound lanes are now. Again there was a cutting on the eastern side of Bulimba creek, exactly where you walked up the concrete footpath where the bicicle was placed.
I hope this is of interest to you
Regards,
Rob (me as wall)
P.S the previous Camp Hill pub was just that - a pub & was located about where the bottle shop is now.
During WW2 the area of the pub was an army camp with Americans stationed there. As a young teenage girl, my mother was always a bit worried when having to go past the army camp. They had to walk from Anzac Rd to the top of Camp Hill to catch the tram.
Very interesting indeed and a fascinating read. Great to get feedback from someone who knows then area so well, from first hand experience. And the info about the US army camp on the site of the Camp Hill Hotel was especially amazing. Thanks indeed for all this!
My parents lived on the corner of Skyline Drive and Artemis Ave, 1953 t0 late 60s. The start of the low section of road which we were told was part of the old line ran beside our home from Artemis Ave. to Darcy Rd.
@@raygregg6686 Hi Ray, I remember your Mum well
@@raygregg6686 I recall the apple she grew & was hopeful it could be an apple that would be able to be grown on the coastal areas. we were 2 doors away No 14.
Yeah was at camp hill hotel at the end of last year I believe, It was in the middle of getting a makeover so there wasn't much to it when I went there
I grew up in Camp Hill Ferguson road I would often catch the tram to church in Carina in the 60’s
wow epic walk rob. i used to travel this path lot but never understood the history of the train tracks. thanks for sharing.
I found this extremely fascinating. Thank you for this.
You're very welcome
LOL when you're out and see Rob.
Great video always wondered about the line
Hey Rob, love the videos mate, was just wondering if you would ever do a video on the Mitchelton/Keperra area? cheers mate!.
I so want a Mitchelton one, just to watch it with my dad - he has got quite some memories of living there, and I think that it might be a bit of a special place to him.
Grandparents lived at Coorparoo all their married life, I lived at Warilda St, Camp Hill and then spent 10 years living in Burn St, and yet I knew nothing about this train line. Why was I not told or taught about it? Obviously am aware of the trams which subsequently came after. Good job Rob, very interesting. I hope you shouted yourself a coldie after shooting on this hot day. Oh also, hello Zac
I shouted myself two glasses of lovely shiraz instead.
Great video
A fair approximation of Derek Jacobi and a welcome reminder of Dave Allen's "Oi wish oi knew where oi was goin' to doi, Paddy." "Cos oi wouldn't go dere!' humour. 😉😊
So, I wonder how many people paused the video to look up fellmongery? I did. Great video as usual Rob and very illuminating for those of us who knew nothing about the Tramway (I lived only on the north side of Brisbane).
Rob right where you ended the video there's a great little Bakery(KP's) that does amazing Steak & Mushroom Pies(I don't rate any others of theirs) & Fresh Sandwiches (Egg & Lettuce, Ham & Salad or Chicken & Salad).
……there’s also Salm’s Butcher’s. Best in Brisbane…………
Fantastic videos Rob, love watching them all.
20.51 and Carina Station is beside you (your left )in those bushes
That was excellent. I grew up in Carina and know many of those spots well ( especially camp hill hotel) but never knew of this tram line. Used to catch the main tram down old Cleveland road to stones corner as a kid. The cutting you went through near carindale was definitely part of old Cleveland road before the bypass was made. Thankyou really enjoyed that.
Loved have done a walk to trace it when I lived at Camp Hill many years ago
They were doing roadworks on Gympie Rd and had the old team tracks uncovered for awhile. Was cool to see.
Nice Field of Dreams reference 😊 and great episode 👍
I did enjoy the "linear" format of this one. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all not be there for the 2 constants in the world...death and taxes!
It's actually worse. First we have to get through politics and corruption before we get to death and taxes.
@@walkaboutwithrob if that's the case...we're all doomed 😬
Learning something new. I regularly go past the stretch of old tram tracks. Did not know it was a tramway part of a QR gauge railway, with connections to the QR suburban network.
"It's not that I'm afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens" 😂 Rob, you and my Grandma would have got on famously...she had a thousand sayings like that. Case in point, "You can get used to anything, except hanging. It doesn't last long enough" Love your videos...well researched and delivered in an entertaining style.
Thank you very much!
I enjoyed that, I grew up in that area in the 70's. I never new the trams that ran from Carina to town were on an old railway. Be interesting to know why the trams only ran to Carina considering there was a rail right of way for a lot further. then again it was only bush from there on out when I was kid. carindale was not even on the drawing board back then.
Interesting. Thanks Rob
I laughed when you said that there's always Wilbur Smith books in those suburban libraries. I visited Sydney two weeks ago, and picked up a WS book "Vicious Circle" 😂.
It’s a constant of the universe.
@@walkaboutwithrob 😅✌️
The main Old Cleveland Rd. Tramline superseded this line when extended from Coorparoo to Belmont Terminus (Carina). This line ran until 1969, and the median tracks are still in place from the Camp Hill hotel to Carina.
Yes that’s right, I feature all that in the documentary.
From what I've been told is the Narracott street was the old Cleveland Rd, the old cleveland Rd we now know was cut through later on as it went through a hill, hence the cutout of that section. I only remember that intersection of creek Rd and old Cleveland Rd intersection the way it today was from when they did all that work for 1982 Commonwealth games. Was told by my parents the old Rd you said led to a property you will find that was part of original old Cleveland Rd.
Good talk on the Tram line. Rob. There are 7 different boards marking the Stops mostly the information is the same though the location name is different. The signs were made for 18months or so however the powers that be couldn't agree on the positioning of all the stops.
That explains why I couldn't find the first one. The one missing was at the Belmont Junction station site near Norman Park train station.
I went to Seven hills college in 1976 to do a business course, we girls were not allowed to associate with the arts students lol
I know this because I’ve been told by an old guy I knew around 1989 . He told me that the embankment on Skyline Drive was where the railway line traversed. He mentioned the Tannery on Scrubb Rd and mentioned how badly it smelled. Saying the train crews hated going there because of the stench which permeated the surrounding area . It has been mentioned to me a number of times of times over the years by people of my own age (70) who lived near there .
I believe the old tram lines were visible in the middle of skyline drive a decade or more ago...there's literally a flat patch of land running all along the middle of skyline drive....I dont think Rob picked upon this l.
……across Bulimba Creek from ‘Greenmeadows Estate’, was the old Knox, Schlapp Tannery, which was still there in the ‘70s, with dead rabbits’ hanging up inside it………
Remember as a kid, in the ‘50s, going along the dirt Creek Road, & hanging on a old wire fence, at the intersection with Cavendish Road, was a sign for that tannery. That was one of the roads’ we travelled from Highgate Hill to get on the old road, via Beenleigh, to go to our house at Palm Beach.
Hahaha love how many times ya said Mayfield Road, ya know I used to live on that street!
Also love watching your videos mate it’s so refreshing to see someone talk about Brisbane in a historical sense not just the contemporary and depressing 7 news style perspective, highlighting the bad occurrences.
Makes us all appreciate the place we live so much more. I hope everyone in Brisbane subscribes to your channel brother keep up the good work!
What a cool and much appreciated comment, thank you indeed! Yes, I would love to have 2.5 million subscribers!
3:20 Since the incident happened 1995 it wouldn't have been that Seven Hills sign that was hit. Seven Hills wasn't made an official suburb until this century, and the council didn't signpost unofficial suburbs. That spot was well inside Morningside. (Seven Hills includes bits of Norman Park, Camp Hill and Carina too.)
Excellent video! I am interested in trains and old rail lines so found this fascinating. Wondering if you’re planning to do a walkabout through Nundah & Chermside? There’s a lot of historical buildings and landmarks that you would find interesting.
I'm very keen to explore Nundah. I've even begun researching it.
I remember about 20 years ago there was a old unused tramline up Old Cleavland road, havent been out that way since i was a kid, would be interesting to see if it is still around.
Edit: never mind I kept watching they are still there nice!!
Regarding the Seven Hills reference. If you’d headed East down Stanley Rd instead of heading up towards Old Cleveland Rd, you would’ve walked past Viminal Hill Crescent as well.
You must have done this last Sunday; Bob Jane T Mart was closed...lol, I think you can do a video on Belmont school too, it was established in the 1870s
To my knowledge the historic Belmont Tramway was originally a short spur or branch (running approx. 4.3 miles or 6.9 km) running off the main QGR line to Wynnum, Manly Lota and down to Cleveland Point and was a 3ft 6in (1067mm) gauge track. Brisbane's once extensive tramway network (operated by the Brisbane City Council. with some of it's track remains shown in this clip running along Old Cleveland Road through Camp Hill) operated on a standard 4ft 8 1/2in (1435mm) gauge tram track.
@davemail66 The Belmont Tramway was a steam engine rail line from Norman Park to Carindale.
Great video Rob, I love watching and learning about the history of the areas that you visit - have you already done or have any plans of visiting the Sandgate and Shorncliffe areas?
There’s a video where he walked from Shorncliffe Pier to Redcliffe Pier