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Mon 8 Feb 1954 - Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954)
Page 7 - The history of the construction of the Western railway line
The history of the construction
of the Western railway line
The famous Lithgow zig zag was the most
spectacular part of the construction
BY
E. G. ROWLAND,
SECRETARY, ROYAL
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The next section of the Kne to be opened was that from Mount Victoria to
Bowenfels on October 18, 1869. It is probably the mostspectacular part for it in
cludes the famous Lithgow Zig Zag.
At the time of the opening there were no intermediate stopping places, but a
siding was opened in 1870, known for six years as Hartley's Siding, to handle sup
plies of shale from the mines in the valley below.
A platform was erected in 1876 when the name was changed to its present
designation.
The Clarence Siding was
opened in 1874 for crossing of
trains, and this was the highest
point on the line, having an
altitude of 3,658 feet above sea
level.
The track then plunged into
the Clarence Tunnel, 1,617 feet
long.
In the original line there were
heavy grades between Bell and
the Clarence Siding which
proved a trial on the run.
A deviation, known as Dar
gan's Deviation, from the name
of the nearby Creek, was opened
in 1897 to avoid these climbs.
At. Newnes Junction, a pri
vate line led to the refinery of
the Commonwealth Oil Corpora
tion at Newnes in the Wolgan
Valley. It has; since been
abandoned.
From the Clarence Tunnel,
the line swung to the south,
then west around Mt. Sinai to
the top of the spur overlooking
the present town of Lithgow,
from which it descended to the
valley below by a zig zag.
The construction of the Lith
gow Zig Zag was a monumental
work.
It was designed by Mr. Whit
ton and- constructed by Mr. P.
Higgins. Work was begun on it
in 1866.
There are three stone viaducts
in the lay out, the first on the
?top raod being of five arches,
the second and third on the
middle road having nine and
eight arches respectively, the
former being 76 feet high at the
centre.
Blasting fired by electricity or first time
On the middle road there was
need for some unusually large
blasting, and two blasts for this
were fired by electricity, the
first time it had been used in
this kind of work.
Altogether one and a quarter
million cubic yards of earth
were excavated.
The immensity of. the task
may perhaps be- conveyed by
quoting an extract from the
third edition of the Railway
Guide of New South Wales: —
'From the Clarence Tunnel
to the bottom, of the valley,
there is a descent of 687
feet, through a deep and rug
ged ravine where formerly
there was scarcely footing for
a mountain goat, and where
surveyors' assistants had oc
casionally to be suspended by
ropes in the per7ormance of
their duties; but human en
terprise and , skill have opened
a. pathway through these
broken mountain ranges for
the railway train.'
At the top level, the lead or
wing past these points came to
dead end at the edge of a two
hundred feet drop overlooking
Vale Colliery.
Several accounts are given of
trucks over-running the end
arid dropping into the valley
below, and, - on one occasion, an
engine, No. 246 B-Class, came
to rest with its front wheels
hanging over the precipice. This
was on April 4th, 1907.
In December, 1908, a fatal ac
cident took place at Top Points.
A portion of a goods train was
being hauled from the top up
to the entrance of the Clarence
Tunnel. It became detached
when the engine, an O-Class'
' failed to take the load.
Running back down the slope
to Top Points, it was diverted
onto a side line, but failed to
take the seven chain curve and
was derailed before crashing
into the rock wall.
The guard of the other portion
of the train, who was standing
beside his engine; was killed by
the falling wool bales, but some
passengers in the van escaped
with only shock.
It can be readily understood
that the zig zag would be dan
gerous in wet and foggy weather,
particularly before the air brake
was in use on all trains.
Great care was taken to keep
the line free of opposing traffic
by the use of the electric staff,
and a speed limit of 10 miles an
hour downwards and 15 miles
an hour upwards was enforced.
Long trains were divided at
the top of the zig zag and taken
down in two divisions.
' Twenty- seven minutes was
allowed for the operation down
wards and fifteen minutes up
wards.
By 1885, owing to a bottle
neck in westbound traffic hav
ing developed, a deviation
avoiding the zig zag was being
considered. The lead or wings
at top and bottom points were
in the meantime, lengthened to
reduce the splitting of trains.
Some traffic was being diverted
through Harden and Blayney
to Bathurst and the west.
Amongst the ideas put for
ward for an alternative was one
discussed when the original
line was built. That was to
take the line down the moun
tain range from Mt. Victoria,
circling Mt. York into Hartley
Vale, but it wasn't received with
favour.
Another idea was to construct
a tunnel between top and bot
tom points.
Eventually, in a plan drawn
up by Mr. T. Kennedy, Chief
Surveyor of the Construction
Branch of the Public Works
Department, a bold conception
was adopted.
Eleven tunnels were to be
made and eight narrow gullies
traversed to gain a much easier
grade on the range and avoid
splitting trains.
Work was begun on June 1st,
1908, and the deviation was
opened on October 10th, 1910,
the extent of the new route be
ing 52 chains shorter in length
and 25 minutes shorter in run
ning-time than the old one.
One of the tunnels was con
verted into an open cut during
working operations. It was an
immense task to build the de
viation, over 600,000 cubic yards
of earth being excavated from
the cuttings of the old line from
a spot close to Bell Station to
Mt. Sinai, about two miles
from the top of the zig zag.
On the other side of the
mountain ranges similar
trouble had been experienced
at the Lapstone Zig Zag, and on
December 18th, 1892, a devia
tion was opened which avoided
this. *
From near Bottom Points, the
line continued on a 12 chain
curve and swung through a
one-track tunnel 2,165 feet long,
built by Proudfoot and Com
pany.
It re-appeared beside the old
line after passing it not far
from Glenbrook Station.
Smoke and fumes in tunnel were often over overpowering
This tunnel did not prove
popular with either train
crews or passengers for,
through poor ventilation, the
smoke and fumes were often
overpowering.
The difficulties of using the
tunnel are well illustrated by the
incident. In 1908, a goods train
was working up the hill and
through the tunnel, aided by a
pusher engine behind.
It stalled in the tunnel and
the crew of the push-up engine
were so overcome by the smoke
and fumes that they decided to
drop back out of the tunnel for
air.
Just as they decided to return,
the crew of the train engine,
who by then were in a bad
state, decided to back the whole
train out. They collided with the
push-up engine coming in.
The resultant wreckage caused
a complete blockage of the wes
tern line for two days.
The duplication of the line
from Glenbrook to Mt. Victoria
tended to cause a bottleneck at
this tunnel, but alternatives to
It seemed enormous and expen
sive. .
However,' before a decade had
passed, it had become obvious
that something was needed, and
a completely new deviation, the
present route, following the
gorge of Glenbrook Creek, was
begun in 1911.
Rock work on the new line
was heavy and a wider and
more airy tunnel to accommo
date the two tracks was neces
sary. But in May 11th, 1913, the
down line was completed and
put into use.
From May 11th to September
25th both old and new lines
were in' use, the old being used
for certain 'up' trains, and
Glenbrook had then the distinc
tion of haying two railway sta
tions, half a mile apart, in use
at the same time.
With completion of the sec
ond- track on the new deviation,
the old line was closed and the
first Glenbrook Station dis
.
mantled.
The old tunnel still remains
and was used in connection with
the defence force in World War
II. With the new deviation
opened for use, the duplication
of the line from Sydney to
Bowenfels, which had been be
gun and largely completed in
1902, was an accomplished fact.
The lay-out of several stations
was altered in the process and
island platforms became a com
mon sight.
The line had reached a site
near Bowenfels in 1869, there
being no intermediate stopping
places since leaving Mt. Vic
toria.
Bowenfels was an old estab
lished settlement three miles
away on the Bathurst Road, and
the station with its stone build
ings and stationmaster's resi
dence fitted well . into the pic
ture.
The Lithgow valley was unde
veloped at the time, being
largely the pastoral property of
Thomas Brown, whose resi
dence still stands near Old
Yard, Lithgpw, close: to the
Goods Shed.
But industry was on its way,
and in the next decade, several
companies were to begin opera
tions in coal and iron mining,,
smelting, brick and tile mak
ing.
To serve their needs, two sta
tions were opened, Eskbank,
near the foot of the range, and
Lithgow, half a mfle away. The
latter was put into use in June,
1874, and the former in June,
1877. A large yard* with engine
sheds was constructed near
Eskbank and is known as the
Old Yard fco-day.
. Printed and Published by the
Proprietor, Ernest Rowland
Mculton. at the Wellington
Times Office, 76 Percy Street*
Wellington, N.S.W