October 2024, LRRSA Members Zoom meeting - Mark Langdon - Hartley Vale

Mark Langdon will present on the following subject:

Hartley Vale

Today, Hartley Vale is a sleepy village with a handful of houses and a pub. In its heyday, it was a major industrial centre, with a refinery producing kerosene and lubricants. The shale mined in the valley was not only retorted to produce crude oil but exported overseas. Two companies were created in the mid 1860s, to exploit the resources at Hartley Vale. One built a small refinery at Harley Vale and the second built retorts and refinery at Botany in Sydney. In 1871, the two companies were amalgamated and retorting and refining was concentrated at Botany. The initial problem at Hartley Vale that had to be overcome was that the nearest railway was on the Darling Causeway above Hartley Vale. To solve this problem a cable worked incline was built connecting Hartley Vale to the top of a spur running off the Darling Causeway. A horse drawn tramway system was created in Hartley Vale to connect the mine to the incline and the incline to Hartley Vale siding on the Great Western Railway.

In 1877, retorts were erected at Hartley Vale and, from this point onwards, the character of Hartley Vale changed. In 1879, a locomotive was purchased from Mort's Dock & Engineering in Sydney to operate the tramway between the top of the incline and Hartley Vale Siding. In 1881, a second locomotive was purchased, this time from Dubs & Co. in Scotland. After its arrival, this locomotive was used on the tramway at the top of the incline and the Mort's Dock locomotive was used in the valley on the tramway connecting the mines and retorts to the incline. In 1887, the Botany refinery was closed and a new refinery opened at Hartley Vale. From this time onwards, until all activities ceased at Hartley Vale in 1914, the tramway would be used to transport, shale, crude oil and the products of the refinery, to and from the railway at Hartley Vale siding.