David Jehan

In this presentation David Jehan introduced the content of his new book TRAMWAYS, COCONUTS & PHOSPHATE which focuses on the phosphate industry on the islands of Ocean Island and Nauru. 

The islands of Ocean Island and Nauru are found just south of the equator in the Pacific Ocean,  265 km apart and 2900 km north east from Brisbane. For most of the twentieth-century the major activity on both islands was the mining of phosphate deposits, for the manufacture of superphosphate.   

On Ocean Island a network of 2ft (610 mm) gauge tramways was used to transport the phosphate to the various jetties for shipment. The motive power used was mainly German steam and British internal combustion locomotives. 

Initially the transport system used on Nauru was the same as that used on Ocean Island, using 2ft (610 mm) gauge tramways and mainly German steam locomotives. This was later upgraded to a 3ft (914 mm) gauge system that also used mainly German steam locomotives which were later replaced by Australian diesel-hydraulic locomotives. 

The presentation also includes the discovery of phosphate, the establishment of the industry, the way the industry was managed and the living and working conditions of the many people who worked there.

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