Mourilyan Mill

Mourilyan Mill
Mourilyan Mill following Cyclone Larry, March 2006.
Location
Coordinates	17.58040° S, 146.03445° E
State	Queensland
Region	Northern Region
LGA	Cassowary Coast Regional Council
Details
Established	1884 (142 years ago)
Closed	2006 (20 years ago)
Owner	Bundaberg Sugar (at closure)
Gauge	610 mm (2 ft)
Annual Crush	approximately 820,000 tonnes (early-2000s average)

Mourilyan Sugar Mill was a sugar mill located at Mourilyan, approximately 10 kilometres south of Innisfail, Queensland. The Mourilyan Sugar Company was established in 1882 and the mill commenced crushing in 1884.

Mourilyan operated for more than 120 years before severe damage from Cyclone Larry in March 2006 resulted in the mill being taken out of service. After initially deciding not to operate the mill for the 2006 season, owner Bundaberg Sugar subsequently decided not to rebuild it and Mourilyan was permanently closed later that year.

History

Establishment

The Mourilyan Sugar Company was formed in 1882 and acquired approximately 5,000 acres of land for the establishment of a sugar plantation and mill.

Construction of a 610 mm (2 ft) gauge tramway between the plantation and Mourilyan Harbour began in 1883. The line was initially used to transport machinery and construction materials from the harbour to the mill site and subsequently carried raw sugar from the mill to the harbour.

Mourilyan Mill first crushed cane in 1884. The mill became the industrial centre around which the township of Mourilyan developed.

Early ownership and development

The original plantation system underwent substantial change during the early twentieth century as large estates were progressively subdivided and cane production shifted towards independent growers.

The Mourilyan estate and mill were acquired by the Mourilyan Syndicate in 1907. The business subsequently became the Australian Sugar Company Ltd. Howard Smith & Co held a substantial interest in the enterprise and ultimately acquired control of the Australian Sugar Company in 1964.

During this period the mill was progressively modernised and its cane supply area expanded.

Innisfail Tramway

Mourilyan's transport history was closely associated with the unusual 610 mm gauge public tramway system serving the Innisfail district.

In 1914, the Queensland Government acquired the Mourilyan Harbour tramway together with the Geraldton Shire tramway system. The lines were linked and operated by Queensland Railways as the Innisfail Tramway.

The government tramway carried passengers and general freight as well as cane and raw sugar. Raw sugar from Mourilyan continued to be hauled to Mourilyan Harbour, while the system also carried cane for Mourilyan and South Johnstone Mill.

Queensland Railways sold the Innisfail Tramway to the local sugar mills in 1977. The remaining network was subsequently integrated into the cane railway systems operated by Mourilyan and South Johnstone.

Goondi rationalisation

The closure of Goondi Mill in 1987 resulted in a major redistribution of cane assignments within the Innisfail district.

Under the Sugar Milling Rationalization (Far Northern Region) Act 1987, former Goondi cane assignments were divided between Babinda Mill and Mourilyan. This increased the available crop for both mills and required changes to the regional cane transport network.

The rationalisation formed part of a broader restructuring of sugar milling in the Innisfail district during the late 1980s.

Bundaberg Sugar ownership

In early 1988, Howard Smith Limited sold its Mourilyan and Moreton sugar milling interests to Bundaberg Sugar.

Mourilyan subsequently operated as one of Bundaberg Sugar's Far North Queensland mills. Bundaberg Sugar also acquired Babinda Mill in 1989 and South Johnstone Mill in 2001.

Bundaberg Sugar itself was acquired by the Belgian sugar group Finasucre in 2000, with Mourilyan remaining part of the Bundaberg Sugar operation until its closure.

Mourilyan Harbour

Bulk sugar terminal

Mourilyan Harbour had been used for shipping sugar since the earliest years of the mill.

Following the move by the Queensland sugar industry from bagged to bulk handling, Mourilyan Harbour was selected as one of Queensland's bulk sugar export ports. Major harbour and terminal works were completed in 1960 and the Mourilyan Bulk Sugar Terminal commenced operation that year.

The terminal allowed raw sugar to be stored in bulk and loaded directly into ships by conveyor.

Mourilyan Harbour subsequently became an export terminal not only for Mourilyan Mill but for raw sugar produced elsewhere in the Far North. The port continues to export raw sugar and molasses from the Innisfail, Babinda, Tully and Atherton Tableland growing districts.

End of rail sugar haulage

For many decades raw sugar from Mourilyan Mill was transported to the harbour over the former Innisfail Tramway.

Rail haulage of raw sugar to the terminal ceased in 1997 and was replaced by road transport. The seaward section of the former tramway was subsequently abandoned, while inland sections remained in use for cane haulage.

Bulk sugar was carried to the harbour in specialised road containers and transferred into the terminal's bulk storage system.

Cyclone Larry and closure

Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry crossed the Far North Queensland coast near Innisfail at approximately 7:00 am on 20 March 2006.

Larry had reached Category 5 intensity while over the Coral Sea but weakened slightly before landfall and officially crossed the coast at Category 4 intensity.

The cyclone caused extensive damage throughout the Innisfail district and severely affected the regional cane crop. Mourilyan Mill sustained significant structural damage, including damage to its boiler chimney and other mill structures.

On 30 March 2006, Bundaberg Sugar announced that Mourilyan would not reopen for the 2006 crushing season. The company stated that it was not feasible to repair and operate the mill in time for that year's crush, while approximately 60 permanent employees were to be redeployed to other mills.

At that stage the mill's permanent future remained undecided. As late as July 2006, Bundaberg Sugar was still publicly considering whether Mourilyan should be rebuilt or whether additional capacity should instead be provided at Babinda and South Johnstone.

Later in 2006 Bundaberg Sugar decided not to rebuild the mill. Industry reporting noted that mill rationalisation in Far North Queensland had been under consideration for several years and described Cyclone Larry as the catalyst which brought the issue to a head.

Approximately $8 million was subsequently planned for upgrades to South Johnstone Mill and Babinda Mill so that the two mills could process cane previously supplied to Mourilyan.

Mourilyan therefore completed its final crushing season in 2005 and did not crush cane during 2006.

Infrastructure

Cane railway

Mourilyan operated an extensive 610 mm (2 ft) gauge cane railway network through the Innisfail district.

By the early 2000s, the Mourilyan cane-growing region covered approximately 12,160 hectares and was served by a rail network extending about 45 kilometres from north to south, incorporating 143 sidings. A peer-reviewed transport study published in 2005 described the district as producing an average of approximately 820,000 tonnes of cane annually.

The locomotive fleet was predominantly diesel-hydraulic by the latter decades of operation and included Clyde, Commonwealth Engineering and Walkers locomotives.

The Mourilyan and Babinda systems were interconnected, with locomotives and maintenance equipment at times moving between the two Bundaberg Sugar operations.

Following Mourilyan's closure, much of its former cane supply area and surviving railway infrastructure became associated with the South Johnstone system.

Production statistics

Mourilyan's annual crop varied considerably with seasonal conditions, changes to assigned cane areas and the effects of the exceptionally wet Innisfail climate.

A study based on the early-2000s Mourilyan transport system recorded average annual production of approximately 820,000 tonnes of cane.

Statistic	Value
First crush	1884
Approximate early-2000s annual average	820,000 tonnes
Final completed crushing season	2005
Mill closed	2006
Cane railway gauge	610 mm (2 ft)

Legacy

The closure ended more than 120 years of sugar milling at Mourilyan.

The Australian Sugar Heritage Centre at Mourilyan subsequently preserved and interpreted the history of the Australian sugar industry through displays of machinery, photographs, documents and other artefacts. The centre's official website currently states that the museum is permanently closed.

The nearby Mourilyan Bulk Sugar Terminal continues to operate and remains an important export facility for raw sugar produced elsewhere in Far North Queensland.

Location

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Rollingstock

Name	Builder	Model	Serial	Year	Current Mill	Notes
8 / Miriwinni	Commonwealth Engineering	AA	AA1543	1960	South Johnstone Mill	Ex Mourilyan #6; formerly Queensland Railways Innisfail Tramway DL16 Korabine. Converted from diesel-mechanical to diesel-hydraulic in 1983 and fitted for multiple operation in 1999.
7	Commonwealth Engineering	AJ	AJ2359	1962	Lautoka Mill	Last seen 2020
11	Clyde	DHI-71	55-64	1955	South Johnstone Mill
13	Clyde	DHI-71	59-203	1959	Out of service	Dismantled 2020.
14	Clyde	DHI-71	63-288	1963	South Johnstone Mill
15	Clyde	DHI-71	66-491	1966	South Johnstone Mill
18	Clyde	DHI-71	56-83	1956	South Johnstone Mill	Stored as of May 2024.
DL15 Nerada	Commonwealth Engineering	AA	B1111	1956	Out of service	Ex Queensland Railways Innisfail Tramway DL15 Nerada. Transferred to Mourilyan in 1977; later Babinda #19. Dismantled at Babinda in December 2005; engine and gearbox sold to Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society.
(Blank)	Walkers	0-6-0DH	570	1956	Out of service	Former Mourilyan #11. Preserved in private ownership in Melbourne, Victoria.
(Blank)	Motor Rail	32/42hp	10219	1950	Out of service	Ex Goondi/Mourilyan Motor Rail Simplex. Preserved at Illawarra Light Railway Museum, Albion Park NSW; arrived 9 March 2004 and recorded on fire-train duty in 2012.
(Blank)	Motor Rail	20hp	3668?	1924	Out of service	20hp Motor Rail locomotive, works number recorded as 3668?; ex Goondi Mill, transferred to Mourilyan in 1987. Later disposition not established.
(Blank)	Krauss		3267	1895	Out of service	Mourilyan #2. Cut down to the frame and converted to a heavy-duty mill roller transport wagon.
(Blank)	John Fowler		12025	1909	Out of service	Mourilyan #1. Cut down to the frame and converted to a heavy-duty mill roller transport wagon.
(Blank)	John Fowler		12967	1911	Out of service	Mourilyan #3. Cut down to the frame and converted to a heavy-duty mill roller transport wagon.
(Blank)	John Fowler		15916	1921	Out of service	Mourilyan #4. Cut down to the frame and converted to a heavy-duty mill roller transport wagon.
(Blank)	Hudswell Clarke		1556	1925	Out of service	Mourilyan #5. Cut down to the frame and converted to a heavy-duty mill roller transport wagon.
(Blank)	John Fowler		20713	1935	Out of service	Mourilyan #6. Cut down to the frame and converted to a heavy-duty mill roller transport wagon; frame recorded at Mourilyan in 1999.
DL14 Johnstone	Commonwealth Engineering	AA	B1112	1956	Out of service	Ex Queensland Railways Innisfail Tramway DL14 JOHNSTONE; later Mourilyan #8 and Moreton YANDINA. Rebuilt by Moreton in 1994 as JAMAICA using mechanical equipment from Baguley JAMAICA 3389. Later privately preserved in Bundaberg.