Blue Mountains railway: the train that thought it could
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Transcript of Blue Mountains railway: the train that thought it could
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Blue Mountains Railway – the train that thought it could!
The making of the Great Western Railway from Penrith to Bathurst
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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
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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
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Compromise
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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.
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Working plan of approach to Victoria Bridge
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Knapsack Viaduct
“an admirable and imposing structure by the genius of John Whitton”
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Little Zig-Zag, Lapstone
Bottom Points on Little Zig-Zag, Lapstone, c. 1870
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Early Blue Mountains Stations
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Glenbrook & Lawson Railway Stations
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Wentworth Railway Station
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Weatherboard to Mt Victoria
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Great Lithgow Zigzag
One of the engineering wonders of the Victorian
age
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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
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Lithgow Zigzag – Bottom Points
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1901 derailment
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Lithgow to Bathurst
Lithgow Station (above), Bowenfels Station (top right) and Wallerawang Station (bottom left)
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Bathurst Railway Station
Bathurst Railway Station – from the plan to the reality
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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!
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Katoomba
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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