Far North Milling - Mossman Mill
Compiled: Brad Peadon
V2 - January 2026
The Mossman Sugar Mill was one of Australia’s oldest continuously operating sugar processing facilities, first crushing cane in 1897 and serving as a cornerstone of the local economy in Far North Queensland for 127 years. It was originally established to process sugarcane from farms around Mossman and became deeply woven into the identity, employment and agricultural rhythms of the Douglas Shire. For decades it was owned and operated as a cooperative by local cane growers and supplied hundreds of thousands of tonnes of cane each season.
Financial pressures and declining viability weighed heavily on the mill for years, despite a significant combined state and federal funding injection of around $45 million aimed at helping it transition to broader bio-precinct operations. The mill was placed into voluntary administration in late 2023, and after negotiations with potential buyers failed, the company entered liquidation in early 2024. With no viable takeover bid secured, the decision was made to wind up the mill’s operations and sell its assets, marking the end of sugar milling on the site after more than a century.
Since closure, the impact on the Mossman community and its sugarcane growers has been profound. Growers have had to truck cane long distances — mainly to the Mulgrave Mill in Gordonvale — for crushing.
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Updated: 18-1-2026 thanks to Steven John.
| MOSSMAN MILL - MOSSMAN QUEENSLAND (CLOSED 2024) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Update: 13-1-2026 | ||||||
| Locomotive | Build | Model | Type | Build # | Year | Notes |
| Operational: | ||||||
| COOK | Com-eng | AL | 0-6-0DH | AL3372 | 1964 | Mourilyan (Storage), sold to South Johnstone Mill. |
| DOUGLAS | Com-eng | AL | 0-6-0DH | AL2562 | 1963 | Sold to unknown person in Victoria. |
| FAUGH-A-BALAUGH | Com-eng | AL | 0-6-0DH | AL4190 | 1965 | Sold to unknown person in Victoria. |
| IVY | Com-eng | AL | 0-6-0DH | AL4181 | 1965 | Mourilyan (Storage), sold to South Johnstone Mill. |
| MOSSMAN | Com-eng | AA | 0-6-0DH | B1719 | 1967 | Preserved: Australian Narrow Gauge Railway Museum (Woodford) |
| HABANA | Clyde | DHI-71 | 0-6-0DH | 60-215 | 1960 | Sold to South Johnstone Mill, later sold to preservation. |
| DAINTREE | EMB | DH28B | B-B DH | 7303-1-7-77 | 1977 | Sold to South Johnstone Mill, operational as their #28 |
| Stored: | ||||||
| MARIAN | Clyde | DHI-71 | 0-6-0DH | 56-104 | 1956 | ex Marian Mill, went to Mourilyan to store, now scrapped. |
| CATTLE CREEK | Com-eng | AA | 0-6-0DH | B1724 | 1957 | ex Marian Mill, went to Mourilyan to store, now scrapped. |
| Preserved: | ||||||
| MOWBRAY | B/RMP | BG6 | 0-6-0DM | . 3378 | 1954 | Sold to the Kerosene Creek Tramway (NSW). |
| STUMPY | MM | - | 4wDM | . 1042 | 1943 | Sold to unknown person in Sydney. |
| Key | B/RMP | E E Baguley Ltd. Burton-On-Trent (England) | ||||
| Clyde | Clyde Engineering Pty Ltd. Granville (Sydney NSW) | |||||
| Com-eng | Commonwealth Engineering (Queensland) Pty Ltd | |||||
| EMB | E M Baldwin & Sons Pty Ltd. Castle Hill & Rooty Hill (Sydney NSW) | |||||
| Westfalia Baldwin from 1990 | ||||||
| MM | Malcolm Moore Ltd. Port Melbourne (Victoria) | |||||
| Thanks | John Browning, Luke Horniblow, Corey Seaton, Chris Stratton | |||||
| William Thomson, The Australian Trainspotter. | ||||||
| Light Rail Research Society of Australia | ||||||
| Australian Sugar Cane Trains/Navvy Pics 2ft. (Facebook) | ||||||
| http://alcogoodwin.blogspot.com | ||||||
| Updated: 13-1-2026 V2 | ||||||
| Changes since V1 | Jan 2023 | COOK & IVY sold to South Johnstone Mill. | ||||
| HABANA & DAINTREE in operation at South Johnstone Mill. | ||||||
| DOUGLAS & FAB: sold to unknown person in Victoria. | ||||||
| MOSSMAN: Preserved by ANGRMS | ||||||
| MARIAN & CATTLE CREEK: Believed scrapped. | ||||||
| MOWBRAY: Went to the Kerosene Creek Tramway. | ||||||
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MOSSMAN
Video: Moreton Mill Farewell BBQ.
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