The Emu Bay Railway was a Tasmania, Australian railway company. The railway was significant during full operation, in that it linked the Tasmanian Government Railways system at Burnie with that at Zeehan that further linked to the Mount Lyell railway allowing connection through to Queenstown.
It was listed on the Melbourne Stock Exchange. Following the closure of the Tasmanian government line at Zeehan railway station in 1960, until 1965, it operated the Melba Line on the West Coast of Tasmania following the closure of the Zeehan section until 1998.
History
The origins of the Emu Bay Railway can be traced back to February 1878 when the Van Diemen's Land Company opened a 71 kilometre, horse drawn wooden tramway line from Emu Bay (Burnie) to Rouse's Camp, near Waratah, to serve the Mount Bischoff tin mines. The line was surveyed by John C Climie.[1][2]