Railways reached Tumut via Gilmore in 1903. The Kunama railway line was a small 35-kilometre branch of the Tumut line, branching from it at Gilmore, 5 kilometres southwest of Tumut, passing through the town of Batlow before ending in Kunama. The branch connection faced towards Tumut.
The branch to Batlow was officially opened 22 March 1923 (however, revenue traffic was running prior to this date), and the extension to Kunama was opened 17 December 1923. Services connected with the Tumut-Cootamundra service at Gilmore on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The service would take two hours departing from Gilmore at 11:40am and arrive in Batlow at 1:45pm. The return journey would be Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays departing Batlow at 11.10am and arriving in Gilmore at 1:16pm.
This steep and sharply curving line was principally to carry agricultural produce from the Batlow region. Batlow’s altitude and climate were ideal for apple growing, and until the line was closed in 1984, its main traffic was apples sent to the Sydney markets from the Batlow Packing House and Cool Stores Co-operative. No dedicated passenger service was provided, however, passengers were permitted to travel in the brake van on the shunting service to Kunama.
With grades as steep as 1/25, trains were never more than a handful of louvred vans, even though they were empty on the ascent and full on the descent. With only a handful of farms in the Gilmore valley, it is hard to imagine many passengers boarding or alighting here during the fifty years during which the station appeared in passenger timetables. Passenger service on this line was composite-passenger HS or HCX brake van (1st/2nd, luggage and guard). The line beyond Batlow was formally closed in 1961 and the line has been lifted. Services to Batlow were suspended in 1983.
Wereboldera station, on the line from Gilmore to Kunama, January 27 1985, after the line was officially closed.
Wereboldera station was constructed of standard precast concrete, New South Wales Government Railways station design Pc1, a 15 foot 6 inch (4.5 metre) shelter, with open entrance door facing the platform and a concrete rainwater tank, filled from the roof. Nearly 150 station buildings of various standard sizes were built to these designs between 1918 and 1932. Locomotive 4821 was one of the first batch of the 48 class introduced after 1959 to replace steam on New South Wales Railways Branch lines. It was manufactured by AE Goodwin’s engineering plant in Auburn, New South Wales. It has been preserved at the Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre. Wereboldera station was closed in 1975.
Batlow Station. Photo: nswrail.net
Batlow station was demolished in 1999, as it was falling part and a hazard. All that remains today are various platform wall sections, and a few relics of the actual railway yard or infrastructure, due to demolition, decay and vandalism. The turntable and water tank were removed and most of the yard is now heavily overgrown. The only major relic of the railway era is the large packing yard which is also in a state of decay. The remaining railway branch line heading down the hill out of town is lifted in place and some parts are now a dirt road. The formation is noticeable due to the cleared trees.
The outermost section of the line, from Batlow to Kunama was closed to all traffic in 1957, although passengers were carried as far as Batlow until 1975 when passenger services were cut back to Tumut. Passenger services to Tumut were withdrawn in 1983, and the entire line from Cootamundra to Batlow was officially closed to all traffic on January 13 1984. The section from Tumut to Batlow re-opened as a tourist railway from December 1988 until May 1990 as a tourist railway known as Mountain High Railway. However this was short-lived, due partly to its relatively remote location and partly to prohibitive legal costs and compliance requirements. Plans are now in motion to convert the formation of the line into the Batlow-Tumut Rail Trail.
Very little remains of a once busy small “junction” station of Gilmore (above), its station and yard are heavily overgrown. The decaying remains include the male toilet, a loading bank, a signal building, a goods shed and what is assumed to be most of the station and yard track. A semaphore was seen to be cut down and decaying. The station site is located at the 529.010 km marker from Sydney and 5km west of Tumut.
Tumut Station
The Tumut and Kunama railway lines are both now disused. The Tumut line was a 104 kilometres long branch of the Main South line, branching southwards from it at Cootamundra and heading to the town of Tumut. The line served the towns of Tumut and Gundagai, where the line crosses the Murrumbidgee River with a large iron girder bridge and wooden viaduct. Villages on the line included Brawlin, Muttama, Coolac and Tumblong (previously named Adelong Crossing).
Old Gundagai Railway Station
The Tumut line was suspended after flooding in 1984, and part of the alignment has been destroyed by Hume Highway upgrading works. The substantial Gundagai railway station was restored in the 1990s, and is the longest timber railway station in New South Wales.
Murrumbidgee River Railway Bridge, Gundagai
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