Zeehan railway station in Tasmania, was a major junction and railway yard for numerous different railway and tramway systems in western Tasmania in the town of Zeehan.
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Its peak of operations was between the 1890s and the late 1920s – reflecting the general fate of the town and the industries that were located in the Zeehan and surrounding districts.
Terminus
It was the terminus of the Strahan-Zeehan Railway from the south, the Emu Bay Railway from the north and a number of narrow gauge tram systems that utilised the railway yard and radiated out in all directions from the station.
The narrow gauge North-East Dundas Tram line proceeded separately out of the station and yard following the Emu Bay before it turned toward its easterly route.
Yard
In 1913 the railway workshops were moved from West Strahan to Zeehan and the yard, over half a mile long, with two gauges and many sidings, was one of the biggest in the state
The Zeehan railway station yard was extensive with numerable small tram lines connecting with the yard in the peak of the activity at the station from before the First World War until the beginning of the depression – when most smaller tramways and mines and smelter operations had ceased to operate.
Tramways
Tramways mentioned here specifically utilised the Zeehan railway station as their terminus.
Accidents
A spectacular boiler explosion occurred at 7.15 am on 17 May 1899 in the Zeehan railway station yard. The North-East Dundas tram approached the Wilson Street waiting room at the end of the station yard, the engine exploded. The fireman Thomas Marra was killed instantly and the driver David Biddeph died soon after
Decline
Post closure status
In 1971 Frank Stamford of The Light Railway Research Society of Australia wrote in Light Railways:
A visit on 12th April 1971 showed that the station building has gone, and most of the track has been rather half-heartedly removed. A length of 2 ft gauge track can still be found near where the station building used to be. The various engine sheds and carriage sheds remain, and are still being used by local timber millers, transport contractors, etc..