Old Cleveland Road Tramway Tracks is a heritage-listed tramway along Old Cleveland Road in Camp Hill and Carina, adjoining suburbs in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1948 by Brisbane City Council. It is also known as Belmont Electric Tramway. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 March 2000.
History
The Old Cleveland Road tramway tracks were laid in 1948 by Brisbane City Council as part of Brisbane's tramway system. They replaced earlier tracks belonging to the Belmont Tramway, constructed in 1912 by the Belmont Shire Council. The line ceased operation in 1969 when the entire Brisbane tramway system was closed by the Brisbane City Council.
Trams were a feature of the Brisbane cityscape for over eighty years. The first, horse-drawn trams plied their way from North Quay to Breakfast Creek and the Exhibition Building in 1885. Until 1922 the tramway was operated by private companies who saw the potential of a tramway to aid the sale of land. During this period, trams were changed from horse-powered, to electric, and the tramway network grew from 20 cars servicing of tramway lines, to 181 cars travelling along of double track. One extension of the period was that which stretched from Stones Corner to Coorparoo, and which, when opened in 1909, formed the nucleus of later extensions to Camp Hill and Belmont (now Carina).
Early in the twentieth century, Belmont was a sparsely populated, "outer" suburb of Brisbane, under the control of the Belmont Shire Council. The area did not enjoy the services of the Brisbane tramway network, to which the Belmont Council responded with the construction of the Belmont (steam) Tramway, opened in May 1912. It was a narrow-gauge 3 ft 6 in tramway track, laid with rails on timber sleepers. The line was operated by the Railway Department with two return trips each day except Sundays. This was later increased to three and four trains per day to attract suburban growth. In 1922, the Belmont Shire Council lobbied for a railway to Redland Bay to extend the Belmont Tramway. The suggestion was rejected however, and the line was constructed via Cleveland instead. The Belmont Shire Council did not have the resources to continue the operation of the tramway, and the line closed on 16 April 1924.
From 1 January 1923, Brisbane's tramways passed into government ownership. The Brisbane Tramway Trust, under the authority of the Queensland Government, controlled the tramways until the creation of Greater Brisbane in 1925. During this time, the Trust was very active in acquiring new tram cars, and making an extension of to the city's track network. One extension, completed in January 1925, was along the Coorparoo line to Camp Hill, from Cavendish Road to Bruce Street.
In December 1925, the Brisbane City Council inherited the Brisbane tramway network, as well as the former Belmont Shire Council's Tramway. The Belmont Tramway had reopened in April 1925, however this proved to be a temporary arrangement. The losses incurred in the running of the line led to its second and final closure in October 1926. Belmont residents were linked by private feeder bus to the Brisbane electric tramway network, and the rails of the Belmont Tramway were removed in 1935.
With the Brisbane City Council's acquisition of the Brisbane tramway network, the upgrading and extension of the system continued. Large numbers of new trams were built and in 1933-34 the Council's distinctive technique of mass concrete tram tracks were first used extensively in Queen Street. Steel ties were used instead of sleepers, with the whole of the track, except on curves, set in solid concrete. Standard railway rails were used with a groove in the concrete for the wheel flange, and guard plates were bolted to the rails on curves to form a groove. These concrete tracks required less maintenance, and formed an excellent road surface for other vehicles.
In the years following the Second World War, Brisbane experienced a housing boom which induced the Brisbane City Council to extend its electric tramway network. Belmont (now Carina) was one of the new housing areas to be serviced by an extension to the Coorparoo tramline, opened in July 1948. The new portion of the line ran from Bruce Street to Mayfield Road, and constituted a double-track route extension of . The remnant surviving along Old Cleveland Road forms part of the 1948 line extension. This track was a standard-gauge track () consisting of steel sleepers and 80-pound rail set in mass concrete. Of the extension, utilised the road-bed of the former Belmont Tramway, between Orwell Street and Mayfield Road.