{{Short description|Self acting tramway in Tasmania, Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} [[File:Williamsford and the Hercules Haulage Line (Tasmania).jpg|thumb|The Hercules Haulage Line connected the Williamsford township to the Hercules Mine above]]
'''The Hercules Haulage''', also known as the [[Mount Read (Tasmania)|Mount Read Haulage]], the ''Hercules Tram''<ref>{{Citation | author1=Harvey, John Henry 1855–1938 photographer | title=Tram to Hercules Mine, Williamstown, Tas | publication-date=1880 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/10724710 | access-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref> and the ''Williamsford Haulage Line'',<ref>{{Citation | title=Williamsford haulage c1890s | publisher=State Library of Tasmania | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36698370 | access-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title=Williamsford: collection of postcards | publisher=State Library of Tasmania | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36698002 | access-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref> was a self-acting {{RailGauge|2ft|lk=on}} [[Narrow gauge railway|narrow gauge]] tramway on the side of [[Mount Read (Tasmania)|Mount Read]] in [[Western Tasmania]], that connected the Hercules Mine with [[Williamsford, Tasmania|Williamsford]] and then to the [[North East Dundas Tramway]].
== The Mine == The Haulage was created to move ores from the Hercules Mine on Mount Read.<ref>Some references note the Hercules Mine as being on Mount Hamilton, a separate named feature on the slopes of Mount Read</ref> The mine was operational between the 1890s and the 1980s, and closed in 2000;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mindat.org/loc-11803.html|title=Hercules Mine, Williamsford, Rosebery district, West Coast municipality, Tasmania, Australia}}</ref> rehabilitation works commenced in 2005.<ref>{{Citation | author1=Pollington, Michael | author2=Lockley, Jim | author3=Grun, Aniela | author4=Pitt & Sherry (Firm) | title=Hercules mine decommissioning and rehabilitation plan – public discussion draft | publication-date=2005 | publisher=Pitt & Sherry | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/37951630 | access-date=6 April 2012 }}</ref>
== The Haulage == The haulage was "self acting",<ref>http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/self-acting – see item 2</ref> one mile (1.6 km) long and 1,642 feet (550m) high with a maximum gradient of 1 in 5.<ref>Light Railways, number 35 Autumn 1971 p.22 has the gradient average as 1 in 3.2, and a maximum of 1.5 with operating speed of 14 mph – further details in Light Railways number 27, page 25 by Wayne Chynoweth</ref> It was claimed to be the largest and steepest self-acting tramway of its kind.<ref>{{cite book| author-link=Geoffrey Blainey|last=Blainey|first=Geoffrey| title= [[The Peaks of Lyell]] | edition=6th | publisher=St. David's Park Publishing | location=Hobart| year=2000| isbn=0-7246-2265-9}} 3rd edition 1967 page 243</ref><ref>''NOTES ON SELF – ACTING TRAMWAY, THE HERCULES MINE, TASMANIA.''(A paper read before the Sydney University Engineering Society, November 12th,1902. By.B. SAWYER, B.E.) The Hercules Mine, situated on the western slope of Mount Hamilton, a spur of Mount Read, is connected with the terminus of the North-East Dundas Railway at Williamsford by means of an inclined self-acting tramway-on the endless rope system. The slope length of this line is eighty and a half chains, and the difference in elevation between the Government line and the "send-off" at the Mine is 1,642 feet. The average gradient is, therefore, 1 in 3'2, the maximum gradient being 1 in 1'5, and the minimum, i.e., the approach to Williamsford terminus, 1 in 8-8. source: http://escholarship.usyd.edu.au/journals/index.php/SUES/article/.../2239{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Later haulage == On the closure of the NE Dundas Tramway, the ''Aerial Ropeway''<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article24287563 |title=ZINC COMPANY'S WORKS AT ROSEBERY — PREMIER'S TOUR. |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)|The Mercury]] |location=Hobart, Tasmania |date=13 September 1929 |access-date=6 April 2012 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> from Hercules was built which took ore in a northerly direction to Rosebery, some literature confuses the two separate systems.
== Notes == {{reflist|2}}
== References == * Pink, Kerry. ''The west coast story : a history of Western Tasmania and its mining fields'' Rev. ed. Zeehan, Tasmania : [[West Coast Pioneers Museum]], 1984. {{ISBN|0-9598295-2-0}} * {{cite book| author-link=Lou Rae|last=Rae|first= Lou|title=The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region | publisher=Lou Rae | location=Sandy Bay| year=2001| isbn=0-9592098-7-5}} * {{cite book| author-link=Charles Whitham |last=Whitham |first=Charles |title=Western Tasmania – A land of riches and beauty |edition=Reprint 2003 |publisher=Municipality of Queenstown |location=Queenstown}} * {{cite book| author=Whitham, Lindsay| title=Railways, Mines, Pubs and People and other historical research| publisher=[[Tasmanian Historical Research Association]]| location=Sandy Bay| year=2002| isbn=0-909479-21-6}}
{{Western Tasmania |state=autocollapse}}
[[Category:West Coast Range]] [[Category:2 ft gauge railways in Australia]]
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