The Hillend Colliery tramroad, Cessnock, NSW

摘要

Unlike the situation around Newcastle, where multiple coal seams and many miles of outcrop permitted the existence of dozens, if not hundreds, of small mines, the South Maitland Coalfield, stretching from Farley to Millfield, was taken up at a later date by large syndicates, leaving very few pockets of outcrop coal accessible to small operators. Hillend Colliery was one of the few small mines established on such an outcrop. Located adjacent to the residential area of Cessnock's East End, it worked to extract a small remnant of Crown Coal. Of special interest to readers of this magazine is the fact that its owners used a light railway to deliver the output to the main line railway.