blue mountains railway: the train that thought it could
DESCRIPTION
This presentation from Open Day 2013 looks at the development and expansion of the railway line through the Blue Mountains and how arrival of the Great Western Line saw a period of rapid growth for the towns along the railway.TRANSCRIPT
Blue Mountains Railway – the train that thought it could!
The making of the Great Western Railway from Penrith to Bathurst
The Impossible Task
“when the question of railway extension had to be considered, grave doubts generally existed as to the possibility of getting a railway across the mountains at all, except at a prohibitive cost”NRS 17514/1/1[3] p.6
John Whitton – Chief Railway Engineer
• Whitton designed the Great Western Railway from Penrith to Bathurst
• 166 km/103 miles long• Climb eastern
escarpment and use tunnels to descend western escarpment
Compromise
Victoria Bridge, Penrith
Heavy duty wrought iron girder bridge on stone piers covering three spans
Section of contract plan for Victoria Bridge, 1866 clearly showing piers.
Working plan of approach to Victoria Bridge
Knapsack Viaduct
“an admirable and imposing structure by the genius of John Whitton”
Little Zig-Zag, Lapstone
Bottom Points on Little Zig-Zag, Lapstone, c. 1870
Early Blue Mountains Stations
Glenbrook & Lawson Railway Stations
Wentworth Railway Station
Weatherboard to Mt Victoria
Great Lithgow Zigzag
One of the engineering wonders of the Victorian
age
Building the Lithgow Zigzag
• Took 600-700 men 2 ½ years to build
• Workers used hand augers for drilling – 3 men per hole
• Surveyors lowered down cliffs in baskets
• Whitton sat at Engineer’s Lookout
Lithgow Zigzag – Bottom Points
1901 derailment
Lithgow to Bathurst
Lithgow Station (above), Bowenfels Station (top right) and Wallerawang Station (bottom left)
Bathurst Railway Station
Bathurst Railway Station – from the plan to the reality
I think I can … I thought I could!
In 1936 day trippers could take the Caves Express and be in the Mountains in just over two hours!
Katoomba
References
• NRS 17514/1/2[47] The Railways of NSW 1855-1955
• NRS 17514/1/1[3] Thirty-five years on the New South Wales Railways: The Work of the late Mr. John Whitton, C.E., 1898
• Robert Lee, Colonial Engineer: John Whitton 1819-1898
• Robert Lee, The Greatest Public Work: The NSW Railways, 1848-1889
• www.zigzagrailway.com.au