Elrington

Elrington

The ‘Peter Pan Colliery’ 1927 – 1962

By Ross Mainwaring
ISBN 978-0-909340-47-6

Elrington is a history of a coalmine near Cessnock NSW, established by the Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd in 1927 to supply coal to its Newcastle steelworks. BHP’s intention was to pioneer the use of modern coal extraction methods at Elrington.
This book describes the technology used, and the problems the company faced in introducing it. The underground 3ft 6 in gauge railways using battery locomotives are described, as well as the standard-gauge steam operated railway which served the mine.
The author also looks at the working conditions and social life of the miners and their families. For various reasons Elrington colliery never achieved its planned output of 3000 tonnes a day. Like Peter Pan, Elrington colliery never grew up.

Soft cover, 96 pages, A4 size, 64 photographs, 9 maps and diagrams, references, bibliography, and index.