The Bellerive to Sorell railway was a 3ft 6in gauge line operated by the Tasmanian Government Railways.
It was an endearingly eccentric operation due to its separation from the rest of the TGR system by the Derwent River.
It was opened in 1892, and closed in 1926. The 23.7km line included several interesting features: a terminal station on the end of a pier, a 164m long stone-lined tunnel, a 256m long stone causeway, a 582m long timber viaduct, and the 400m long Shark Point cutting.
The four-wheeled carriages were not noted for their comfort. “Coming in today I almost had my arse pinched off” wrote one irate passenger.
Since the closure of the railway the tunnel has be used by the Defence Department during WWII to store records from Anglesea Barracks, as well as the University of Tasmania to house recording devices for cosmic ray testing, In the late seventies a Hungarian gentleman by the name of Pasztor purchased the southern end of the tunnel with the desire to run a restaurant there. Unfortunately his plans never reached fruition. More recently the southern end of the tunnel has been used as an environment for growing mushrooms.
An excellent book about this railway has been published by the Bellerive Historical Society, entitled "The Bellerive to Sorell Railway". This book can be purchased from the Bellerive Historical Society or borrowed from the State Library of Tasmania.