Logistics
There was plenty of demand for firewood from Melbourne, with the bulk of the transport needs being met by the railways up until World War 2. Looking back to the pre-war years, The Argus newspaper estimated that Melbourne needed 500-600,000 tons of firewood each year, as well as 100,000 tons of coal and a similar amount of coke.1 Trains carried much of the firewood to Melbourne from all over Victoria.
It was essential for the efficient operation of this huge logistical exercise that there were sufficient rail trucks available to cart the wood to the big smoke. This was not always the case. In times when there were not enough trucks, the wood had to be stockpiled at Rushworth station. There was only so much room available, so when that was filled, it meant that some of the workers had to be put off, causing financial hardship in the town and district.
Shortage of rail trucks
At times, there were problems getting enough rail trucks to cart all the wood away from Rushworth, a source of much discontent amongst the local mill owners and workers. This issue prompted mill owners to write to newspapers in Melbourne on a regular basis. One such letter from 1900 noted that there were five mills in Rushworth, and on the previous Saturday only one empty truck had arrived. The five owners tossed for it, while “the (traction) engine whistles shrieked an indignation chorus.”2
This was at a time when one of the owners, Henry Campbell, was filling 70 rail trucks a month. The standard size of rail truck could accommodate an average of 12.5 tons of firewood.3 Other millers had larger businesses than Campbell, so there was a requirement for hundreds of rail trucks each month. The problems were compounded in the harvest season, when a lot of grain was transported by the railways and used some of the available rolling stock.
The situation was marginally better in 1903, when it was reported that a full train load of firewood was leaving the Rushworth station daily, while a special extra train carted 40 trucks away.4 There were at least three other stations on the line where firewood was picked up, so it was expected that another special train would have to run in the near future. The same article reported that the Rushworth railway station handled about 80,000 bags of wheat a year, but in the previous year this primary industry had also suffered delays because of lack of rolling stock. 15,000 bags of wheat had been stockpiled at the station to be transported later.
Ongoing problems
Shortage of rail trucks remained a problem over the next decade. In November 1908, P W J Hardy, sawmiller of Rushworth, wrote a letter to the editor of Melbourne paper The Argus about the issue. Hardy lamented that “it is very seldom that I get the number ordered. If four or five are ordered, the chances are that I get two or three, and very often less. Other millers are treated the same way. With a shortage now, before the grain season opens, what sort of time will the millers have later on? It seems to be mismanagement on the part of those responsible for this state of affairs.”5
In 1911, millers Colliver & Anderson noted that there was an acute shortage of trucks, when they needed 6-7 trucks per day just for their own business.6 This indicates that they were able to supply in the order of 75-88 tons of wood per day, with a weekly average of over 400 tons for a five and a half day working week. At the same time, miller H T Ferris was also doing 6-7 trucks a day, when he could get them.
By 1946, the situation was not much better. It was claimed that in winter, Melbourne needed 1000 railways trucks of firewood per week. There was plenty of firewood (4000 tons) stacked at Rushworth, but no way to get it to Melbourne unless more rail trucks could be supplied.7
However, by this time, demand for firewood in Melbourne was starting to decline as consumers switched to other fuels to heat their homes. This led to a demise in local industry and the number of people who were employed in the wood mills at the station, and those who cut and transported the timber from the forest. Consequently, the number of rail trucks needed at the Rushworth station started to decline after the war.
References: 1 The Argus 8.7.1949; 2 The Argus 24.09.1900; 3 Spiby, Tracey notes on the local timber industry; 4 The Age 15.8.1903; 5 The Argus 16.11.1908; 6 The Argus 22.2.1911; 7 The Herald 6.11.1946
