Travel Australia

Newnes Railway Line, New South Wales

The Newnes railway line (also called Wolgan Valley Railway) is a closed and dismantled railway line in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. The line ran for 51 km from the Main Western line to the township of Newnes. Along the way, it passed through a tunnel now known as the Glowworm Tunnel, because it is famous for its glow-worms. The tunnel is now contained within the Wollemi National Park. The line was constructed and operated by the Commonwealth Oil Corporation for their Newnes Oil Shale mine. Surveying and construction was overseen by Henry Deane. The line opened in 1907 and closed in 1932. It was primarily intended to carry goods to and from the mine, but also provided passenger services.



The Newnes Junction railway station on the Blue Mountains Line served the former private branch line to Newnes. The station closed to passenger services in 1975, although it still physically exists and is occasionally used for coal trains visiting the nearby Clarence Colliery. The station consists of an island 'Up' platform, and a single side 'Down' platform.

The first station was finished around 1906 at the time of the Newnes railway line. This station was located at the junction of the Dargans Creek deviation and the Newnes railway line (or Wolgan Valley Railway) which is situated about 500 metres (550 yd) north west of the current Newnes Junction Station. After the Zig Zag deviation was completed the station was no longer needed for passenger services but stayed in use to finalise the recovery of parts from the Zig Zag and Clarence area along the Dargans Deviation.



The second station (also called "Newnes Junction') replaced the earlier station which operated from 1906 to 1910. The Wolgan Valley Railway closed in 1932 and for years the station had no use at all until the construction of the loop line that served the Clarence Colliery in the 1970s.

In 1957 electrification crossed the Blue Mountains and the sidings and colliery loop were electrified. In 2006 the overhead catenary was decommissioned and was removed from the colliery balloon loop. The station was burnt to the ground resulting from the 2019 Gospers Mountain fire. The station was burnt to the ground resulting from the 2019 Gospers Mountain fire.



The steep 1 in 25 (4%) gradients along the descent towards Newnes required a different type of steam locomotive. 4 Shay locomotives were imported from the Lima Locomotive Works in the USA. Although rather slow, their unique build which uses crankshafts to propel the wheels made them very suitable, and if a train had to stop on a steep uphill grade, the train could easily start again and keep moving.

After the line closed in 1932, part of its route was used by a section of the pipeline that carried refined petroleum from the Glen Davis Shale Oil Works to Newnes Junction.

In 1940–1941, the rails were lifted; most were shipped to North Africa for use as anti-tank traps and gun emplacement reinforcements but some of the bullhead rails were reused for structures and supports of the oil pipeline. Other iron fittings from the line were used as scrap for munitions.

The location of the Newnes railway station is marked by the stone-faced platform across the river from the main road. The railway was constructed in an impressive 18 months by Henry Deane, who overcame such obstacles as 100 to 200 metre cliffs, tight curves and steep grades. At its height the station consisted of a timber-faced platform constructed in 1907, a ticket office and waiting room and a wooden footbridge for crossing the river which was washed away in 1910. There was also a goods shed and siding.

Newnes township and mining site

Newnes township at its peak probably housed around 2000 people. It originally extended up the slope on the hotel side of the river and included the main camping flat. There is very little left at the site as most of the building materials were removed and re-used during and after World War II. Two brick chimneys are the relics of a schoolhouse built in 1910, closed in 1940, to cater for the miners' children. Some concrete remains near the road are all that are left of the main group of shops, located along the Wolgan Road in the clearing to the south of the NPWS information bay.

This fascinating industrial heritage site is all that's left of a large-scale industrial complex that operated between 1906 and 1932, and finally closed down in 1937. It was one of the largest shale oil production schemes in Australia and encompassed mining, processing, distillation and associated manufacturing industries. The ruins include the coke ovens complex, paraffin sheds, oil washing tanks and the distillation area, as well as the former railway line.



On-site you can see the remains of 90 coke ovens which were used to fuel the boiler plants and shale retorts. These unique beehive-shaped kilns were built before 1907 and in use until 1911. As well as being used on-site, the coke was exported along the railway line to the ironworks in Lithgow and the copper smelter in Cobar. Coal was hand-mined uphill from the ruins and the remains of one mine can be seen on the Glow Worm Tunnel walk.

A series of retainer walls are evidence of the challenge raised by the steep site. From the top of one of the retainer walls you can see the foundations of the exhauster house and the remains of atmospheric condensers used to distil the crude oil. The shale oil was processed into products including paraffin for candles, crude oil, kerosene, blue oil and lubricating oil. One of the largest relics is a five-room complex where paraffin was produced. The heavy oil was cooled to form solid paraffin, filtered and pressed into cakes. These cakes were then treated in a sweating plant and refinery, and finally made into candles.

Access Wollemi National Park via Wolgan Road, off Castlereagh Highway, north of lithgow. Access Glow Worm Tunnel via State Mine Gully Road from Lithgow.