Dorrigo railway line

Ulong railway station

The Dorrigo railway line is a closed railway line in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It branches from the North Coast line at Glenreagh.^[1]

Part of a Grander Scheme

Dorrigo Branch Line
Legend North Coast railway line from Sydney Orara River Glenreagh West Depot Tunnel 1 Tunnel 2 Timber Top Siding Moleton Mole Creek Tank Lowanna Ulong Bobo River Brooklana Lloyd Cascade Briggsvale Megan Leigh Bielsdown River Dorrigo

The Dorrigo line was intended to be part of a much larger rail system linking the ports of Coffs Harbour and Grafton with the Northern and North western lines. The line would have joined with the system at Guyra, Inverell and Werris Creek. These plans never came to fruition and construction work was commenced on only two sections, between Glenreagh and Dorrigo and Guyra and Dorrigo. Only about 13 km of the latter was partially constructed.^[2][3]

The Dorrigo

Dorrigo, the terminus of the Glenreagh to Dorrigo line, is situated on a plateau some 730m high in some of the best dairying country in Australia. It has a consistently high rainfall and is the main township for the area known as "The Dorrigo" (short for 'The Dorrigo Plateau'). The town is situated in a geographical location which could best be described as mountainous. Being a rainforest area, it has a high rainfall and fertile soil, but it is also given to landslides and land subsidence. It was into this setting that a line of railway was built, encountering many difficulties in its construction.^[2]

Construction

On 28 December 1910 the Glenreagh to Dorrigo Railway Act^[4] received assent to sanction the construction. It was not until early August 1914 that construction officially commenced.^[5][6] Because of the First World War, a lack of finance and a dispute with the contractor, progress foundered. The contract was terminated on 28 March 1917 and construction passed to the Railway Commissioners who promptly suspended work.^[7][8]

It was almost two years after the end of the First World War that the Railway Commissioners decided to press ahead with construction.^[9] Delays occurred due to landslips and washaway and it was not until 27 September 1924 that a construction train reached Dorrigo.^[2] Construction was finalised by 5 December and an inspection of the line was conducted by Railways staff on the 10th.^[10]

Opening

The line opened on 23 December 1924.^[11]

Operations

The Dorrigo line was one of the costliest branch railways built in New South Wales. It had some of the steepest gradients and tightest curves on the system and experienced high maintenance and running costs. It experienced repeated losses throughout its entire existence.

Although goods other than timber were carried, timber was the main revenue source for the railway. Just prior to the suspension of services, there were loadings of up to 13 wagons, mainly of timber from Dorrigo. Most of the logs and processed timber were sent to Sydney. In the early days of the line, the N.S.W.G.R. obtained sleepers for the North Coast region from the area. These were transported by rail to other centres.^[2]

Closure

The line lost its passenger service on 1 December 1957 and goods services were suspended on 27 October 1972 after flood damage. By the end of December 1972, it was becoming apparent there was little prospect of the line re-opening as the Public Transport Commission [the Authority then charged with operating the State's railways] would give no indication of its intentions.

Dorrigo station remained open until November, 1979, providing staff to facilitate the road transport of goods between there and Raleigh.^[2]

Preservation

Parts of the line are used by heritage railway organisations Glenreagh Mountain Railway and Dorrigo Steam Railway and Museum.

See also

• Rail transport in New South Wales

External References

• Reading of Act of Parliament to close line retrieved 21 July 2014
• Continuation of Reading of Act of Parliament to close line retrieved 21 July 2014
• 2nd reading
• "Glenreagh to Dorrigo Railway (Closure) Bill 1993" (PDF). austlii.edu.au. NSW Parliament. 
• "CRA Heritage Inventory" (PDF). daff gov au. pp. Item 11. Retrieved 23 July 2014. 

References

Railway lines in New South Wales
Main lines Broken Hill Main Northern Main South Main Western North Coast South Coast
Country branch lines Operational Berrima Binnaway-Werris Creek Blayney-Demondrille Boggabilla Bombala Canberra Cobar Coonamble Grenfell Gwabegar Hay Lake Cargelligo Medway Quarry Mungindi Naradhan Newcastle Oaklands Parkes to Narromine Picton-Mittagong loop Pokataroo Sandy Hollow-Gulgong South Maitland Railway Stockinbingal-Parkes Temora-Roto Tottenham Troy Junction-Merrygoen Unanderra-Moss Vale Walgett Warren Yanco-Griffith Closed Ballina Barraba Belmont Boorowa Brewarrina Burcher Camden Captains Flat Corowa Crookwell Dorrigo Eugowra Holbrook Inverell Kunama Kywong Merriwa Molong-Dubbo Morpeth Mount Hope Murwillumbah Newnes Oberon Rand Rankins Springs Richmond Vale Railway Taralga Tocumwal Toronto Tumbarumba Tumut Wallsend Westby
Sydney lines Commuter rail Airport Bankstown Carlingford City Circle Cronulla Eastern Suburbs East Hills Epping-Chatswood Main Suburban North Shore Olympic Park Richmond South West Goods lines Sydney Freight Network Southern Sydney Freight Closed Camden Kurrajong Rogans Hill Ropes Creek Royal National Park Sandown
Proposed or under construction Inland Railway Maldon–Dombarton Sydney Metro Northwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest Western Sydney Freight Line
Tourist & heritage railways Glenreagh Mountain Railway Lachlan Valley Railway New South Wales Rail Transport Museum Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Richmond Vale Railway Skitube Zig Zag Railway