Plane Creek Mill

Plane Creek Mill
Plane Creek Mill. 2016. Kerry Raymond.
Location
Coordinates	21.42734° S, 149.21522° E
State	Queensland
Region	Sarina
LGA	Mackay Regional Council
Details
Established	1896 (130 years ago)
Owner	Wilmar Sugar
Gauge	610 mm (2 ft)
Annual Crush	1,300,000 tonnes (annual average)

Plane Creek Mill is a raw sugar factory located in Sarina, approximately 35 kilometres south of Mackay. It is owned and operated by Wilmar Sugar and Renewables. The mill produces raw sugar, molasses and renewable energy and supplies steam and electricity to the adjoining Sarina Distillery, which produces bioethanol from molasses.

History

Establishment

The Plane Creek district was settled by pastoralists during the 1860s. Henry Bell and Edmund Atherton established the Plane Creek pastoral run in 1864, and the Atherton and Bell families subsequently became closely involved in the establishment of the district's sugar industry.

The Plane Creek Central Mill Company Limited was registered in late 1893 and was brought under the Queensland Government's Sugar Works Guarantee Act 1893 in 1894. Approximately 28,000 acres of shareholders' land was mortgaged as security for a £65,000 Queensland Government loan to construct the mill.

In 1895, Walkers Limited of Maryborough was selected to supply the milling machinery. Construction proceeded under the supervision of G. Wolfe and J. B. Wood. The company also constructed an extensive 610 mm (2 ft) gauge tramway system, including a line approximately 15 miles long from Plane Creek to a wharf at Louisa Creek for the shipment of raw sugar.

The mill commenced crushing on 4 November 1896. During its first season it processed 3,579 tonnes of cane and produced 371 tons 14 cwt of raw sugar.

Early operations

Plane Creek initially experienced financial difficulties and government guarantor directors were appointed to oversee the company. The mill subsequently expanded as sugar cultivation increased throughout the district.

The company's debt to the Queensland Government was fully repaid during the 1920–21 season.

Development of the North Coast railway line south of Mackay substantially increased the area from which cane could be supplied to Plane Creek. The railway reached Sarina in 1913, Koumala in 1915 and Carmila in 1920. Cane from districts further south, including Flaggy Rock, was being transported by government railway to Plane Creek by the late 1920s.

Water supply was a recurring difficulty for the mill. A weir was constructed on Plane Creek in 1926, followed by a second weir in 1935.

Sarina distillery

Plane Creek was involved in the establishment of the Australian National Power Alcohol Company during the 1920s. The adjoining Sarina distillery commenced operation in 1927, initially producing power alcohol from molasses and other feedstocks.

The distillery subsequently developed into a major producer of industrial and fuel ethanol. It is now operated by Wilmar Sugar and Renewables and processes molasses from Queensland sugar mills. Plane Creek Mill supplies steam and electricity to the facility.

The modern Sarina Distillery produces approximately 55 megalitres of bioethanol annually for fuel and industrial applications.

Ownership

Unlike a number of other Queensland central mills, Plane Creek did not become a grower-owned co-operative. The Plane Creek Central Mill Company Limited continued to own the mill until 1974.

In June 1974, the company was taken over by Pioneer Sugar Mills Limited. Pioneer Sugar Mills, including Plane Creek, was subsequently acquired by CSR Limited in 1987.

In 2010, CSR's sugar and renewable energy business, Sucrogen Limited, was acquired by the Singapore-based agribusiness Wilmar International. Plane Creek has since operated as part of Wilmar's Australian sugar business.

Very Low Colour sugar

In 1995, CSR commissioned facilities at Plane Creek for the production of Very Low Colour (VLC) raw sugar. The specialised product was intended to reduce processing requirements for refiners and was produced at Plane Creek during the following years.

CSR later concluded that there was no longer a viable market for the product and wrote down the assets associated with VLC sugar production in 2003.

Infrastructure

Milling

Plane Creek Mill processes an annual average of approximately 1.3 million tonnes of sugarcane and produces approximately 173,000 tonnes of raw sugar.

The mill also produces molasses and renewable energy from bagasse, the fibrous material remaining after cane crushing. Steam and electricity generated by the mill are also supplied to the adjoining Sarina Distillery.

Tramway

Plane Creek Mill operates an extensive 610 mm (2 ft) gauge cane railway serving the Sarina district and cane-growing areas to the south. Wilmar's 2025 regional statistics list approximately 163 kilometres of cane railway, eight locomotives and 2,424 cane bins in the Sarina region.

The southern cane supply area developed in conjunction with both mill tramways and the government-owned North Coast railway. Cane from areas around Koumala, Carmila and Flaggy Rock was historically transferred to Queensland Government Railways wagons for transport to the mill. The last Queensland Rail cane train to Plane Creek operated from Carmila in December 1994, after which the mill's own narrow gauge network assumed the long-distance haulage.

Plane Creek became particularly notable for the use of long distributed-power cane trains on its southern workings. These trains used a second remotely controlled locomotive positioned within the train to provide additional traction and braking on the long haul from the southern terminus. Distributed-power, or Locotrol, operation continued for many years but was discontinued from the 2020 crushing season.

The mill continues to operate long-distance cane trains on the southern network using conventional locomotive operation.

Production Statistics

Statistic	Value
Average Annual Crush	1,300,000 tonnes
Average Raw Sugar Production	173,000 tonnes
Bioethanol Production	55 megalitres annually (Sarina Distillery)
Cane Railway	Approximately 163 km
Locomotives	8
Cane Bins	2,424
Railway Gauge	610 mm (2 ft)

Location

Loading map...

Rollingstock

Name	Builder	Model	Serial	Year	Current Mill	Notes
Victoria	Walkers	GH500	599	1968	Plane Creek Mill	Converted by Tulk Goninan - 1994
Dalrymple	Clyde Queensland	HG-3R	70-709	1970	Victoria Mill	Usually used as full yard loco
D4	Commonwealth Engineering	FA	FA1037	1960	Plane Creek Mill
D12	E.M. Baldwin	DH32B	6890-1-10-76	1976	Plane Creek Mill
Allan Page	Walkers	GH500	594	1968	Plane Creek Mill	Last rebuilt Pioneer Mill 2020
Karloo	Walkers	GH500	632	1969	Plane Creek Mill	Last rebuilt Bundaberg Foundry 1995
Koumala	Walkers	GH500	651	1970	Plane Creek Mill	Last rebuilt Pioneer Mill 2019
Carmila	Walkers	GH700	676	1971	Plane Creek Mill	Last rebuilt Proserpine Mill 2018
D8	Commonwealth Engineering	FC	FC3777	1964	Plane Creek Mill	Transferred from Plane Creek on 9 December 2019 and stored at Pioneer Mill by June 2020. Listed again with the Plane Creek fleet as stored in 2024.
Kalamia	Clyde	HG-3R	67-569	1967	Invicta Mill
1	Clyde	DHI-71	56-101	1956	Out of service	Transferred from Plane Creek Mill to storage at Pioneer Mill by 8 June 2020.
2	Clyde	DHI-71	57-147	1957	Out of service	Out of use by 1997; dismantled by 1999.
3	Commonwealth Engineering	FA	FA1036	1959	Out of service	Out of use by 1997; dismantled by 1999.
5	John Fowler		18801	1930	Out of service	Preserved; LRRSA recorded with Benny Rachwel at Menangle Steam Park, Campbelltown NSW (2011).
6	Ruston Hornsby	30DLU	371381	1954	Out of service	Preserved; LRRSA recorded with Graham Chapman, Narangba QLD (2011).
7	Commonwealth Engineering	FC	FC3776	1964	Plane Creek Mill	In active service. Last seen 11/10/2026 in the Dawlish, Mackay area.
9	Ruston Hornsby	DH15	6-825-1-5-64	1964	Out of service	Ruston & Hornsby 100DLU locomotive rebuilt by E.M. Baldwin in 1964 on the frames of a 915mm-gauge locomotive ex Snowy Mountains Scheme contractor; Baldwin rebuild no. 6-825-1-5-64, Model DH15. Out of use by 1997 and sold in 1999; LRRSA later recorded a possible subsequent location at Emerald QLD in 2011, but this was uncertain.
(Blank)	F.C. Hibberd		2333	1940	Out of service	Preserved; LRRSA recorded with Graham Chapman, Narangba QLD (2011).