Grubb's Tramway was a more than long horse-drawn light railway in Western Tasmania. It was opened in 1891 from Zeehan to Summit and the Colonel North Mine. It became the Colonel North Tramway in 1899 and closed in 1927. Three times a day, a "Goods Truck" carrying passengers ran every day (Sundays excepted). The uphill journey lasted at least 90 min or more. The return journey from the hill summit to Zeehan, a distance of , was accomplished in six minutes.
Location
The line started in Zeehan at the Main Street, about half a-mile from the Zeehan railway station. Leaving the Main Street, the line ascended a steep grade to the summit of the hill a distance of . The passenger car could contain up to thirty passengers, and it took three horses to convey it to the top, but when it reached there, the horses were detached and the car under the control of a very powerful brake, moved downwards with its own momentum to the mine, a further distance of , or a total journey of from the starting point. The maximum grade throughout was 1 in 25 (40%); the sharpest curve having a three-chain (60 m) radius. At a distance of from Zeehan a viaduct some 12 chains (241 m) in length was traversed, the height from the ground being, in some places, fully . There were also two small bridges on the line. The line had a gauge of , and was constructed of rails, laid on sleepers with centres.
Planning and survey
In April 1898 two prospectors were sent out by a few Hobart businessmen to prospect in the Zeehan district, and after a few months of labor, their efforts were successful. Going down to the creek one morning, on the very spot where the mine was subsequently erected, the lode was discerned cropping out on the surface in the shape of a large boulder.
Immediately after, two 80 acre sections were pegged off on the course of the lode, and prospecting operations were continuously persevered in by the syndicate for a considerable time, amidst all the difficulties which surrounded prospecting on the West Coast, at that time, when everything had to be carried in on the men's backs. However, this work was continued, and notwithstanding the enormous cost of getting ore out to the main track, and forwarding it to Trial Harbour for shipment, 70 tons of ore was obtained and sent to various places for treatment, with the most satisfactory results.
The property consisted of two 80 acre sections, running longitudinally from north to south, and thus securing the greatest length on line of lode, about . The lode has been cut in the centre of the property, and stripped for a length of by a depth of The breadth of the lode was ., composed of silver-lead, quartz, and porphyry. The pure silver-lead ore formed a of the entire lode. The remainder being gangue thickly impregnated with silver-lead was classed, as good second-class stuff, suitable for concentrating.
Set-up of the company
All this was done before it was proposed to offer the property to the public. It was, however, evident to the businessmen concerned in this venture, that a much larger amount of capital would be required to develop the property than they could reasonably hope to be able to provide, and with the necessity for the construction of a tramway staring them in the face, it was resolved to invite the assistance of outside capital, feeling assured that there would be every inducement to warrant the expectation of a speedy and successful notation of the company.
The preliminary pilot exploration looked quite promising: The result of 10 tons of ore sent to the Stolborg Smelting Works in Germany, was 58½ % lead, and 61oz, 8dwt. 4gr. silver to the ton, which gave £14 per ton clear of all smelting charges.
The company was very quickly floated, with a capital of £46,000, and the first meeting of shareholders was held on 18 February 1890, when rules were adopted and directors appointed. One of the first things considered by the directors, after their first meeting, was the best means to adopt for obtaining access to the mine, and, after mature deliberation, it was decided that it would be in the best interests of the shareholders to construct an efficient tramway in the first instance. For while machinery could have been got to out mine by the construction of a much less costly road, yet after this was done the expenditure would have been comparatively useless, and a tramway similar to that opened today would have had to be undertaken, in order to have the mine connected with the Government railway.