In the beginning, passenger coaches and good carriages were rented from the Queensland Government until the company acquired its own stock from Phoenix Engineering Co and Shillito & Sons, both based in Ipswich.

[2] The formation of the Mulgrave Central Mill Company Ltd in November 1893 under the provisions of the Sugar Works Guarantee Act of 1893 gave rise to the idea that a fourteen miles long tramway with a gauge of 2 ft should be constructed by the board from Cairns to the Mulgrave River.

His recommendation that the normal railway gauge of the colony should be adopted was agreed to, and it was decided to retain his services as consulting engineer for the purposes of the tramway.

The line was entirely unfenced, but in other respects, the usual railway practice of the colony has been followed, except that the formation is only 12 ft. wide, whilst soil ballast has been chiefly used.

At that time the entire rolling stock available for use comprised one 11 inch cylinder locomotive, built at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, U.S.A., in 1879(purchased from the Railway Department, Cairns, for the sum of £700), and five second-hand ballast wagons, purchased at Gladstone from the railway contractors Messrs. James Overend & Co for the sum of £125.

A tramcar with seating accommodation for sixty passengers, which had been previously in use on the Government lines, was purchased from the Railway Department, in Brisbane for £100.

With the assistance of a guard's van and a convertible car, the latter was exclusively for indigenous passengers — hired from the Railway Department, together with other passenger and goods stock hired from the department as occasion demanded, the board was enabled to cope with the rapidly increasing traffic in the first year in a fairly satisfactory manner.

[1] In consequence of the subdivision and planting with cane of a large area of rich scrub land on the southern side of the Mulgrave River, in connection with the proposed Aloomba Central Mill, which, however, eventually fell through, the board decided to extend the tramway across the river as far as the main Russell road, a distance of 3 miles 61 chains.

per ton for the first year, the company at the same time agreeing with the board to construct at their own cost a branch line about 2 miles in length on a gauge of 3 ft. 6 in.

[3] In July 1897, the board entered into a contract for the construction of two low-level timber bridges, having a total length of 660 ft. at the tramway crossing of the Mulgrave River.

On 1 April 1898, the construction of the Aloomba extension was commenced from the southern bank of the river, and, with the exception of the Mulgrave Bridge, was carried out by day labour, being complete and opened for traffic in August, 1898.

[3] On the extension to Aloomba a siding was laid in the bed of the Mulgrave River from which an ample supply of clean coarse sand and shingle, suitable for ballast, was obtainable.

4d., the expenditure from which has been £50,220, leaving an unexpended balance to the credit of the Tramway Loan Fund of £2352, this amount not having been drawn from the Treasury on that date.

The percentage of net revenue to capital expended on open line for the twelve months ended 30 June last is £6 18s.

After deducting working expenses and payments to the Treasury on account of interest and redemption, the revenue balance for the twelve months ended on 30 June 1899 was £735.

The receipts from passenger fares amounted to £3013, an increase of £508 as compared with the period of one year and fifty-nine days ended on 8 June 1898.

[3] In addition to general merchandise, the goods traffic comprises bananas and fruit, sugarcane, manufactured sugar from the Mulgrave and Hambledon mills, round timber, firewood, soil for fllllng-up purposes in town, road metal for the council, mineral ores from the Russell and Herberton districts, and ships' ballast.

The minimum charge made by the Railway Department for the carriage of sugarcane in full truckloads, a distance of fifteen miles and under, is 20d.

per ton for the Aloomba-Hambledon service, but this was found by actual experience to be unremunerative, bearing in mind the large capital expenditure incurred for the special purpose of enabling the Aloomba farmers to harvest their cane.

The total weight of goods carried during the twelve months was 71,688 tons, for £6353, equal to 66.25 per cent of the gross revenue.

[3] The board's rolling stock consisted in 1899 of three locomotives, 5 passenger cars, 69 goods waggons, and two guards' vans.

[3] A Class 5 steam locomotive was built in February 1908 by Burnham, Williams & Co with works number 32678 for the Cairns-Mulgrave Tramway.

In addition to the sugar prospects there was an unlimited quantity of valuable timber, which was at present worthless because of the want or means of carriage.

It is urged in support of the scheme that the Mulgrave Central Mill has disbursed £130,000 among the farmers and wage-earners, and has paid the Government as interest £4264.

This curved wooden bridge was one of the last major river crossings on the North Coast Line, and has now been replaced by a third high level pre stressed concrete structure.

[1] On 1 July 1911, the Queensland Government bought the line (including all inventories) from Cairns Shire Council for £158,650 and integrated it into the State Railway System.