Re: Picton-Mittagong Loop Line Re-opens?

["Dongbert" <nospam.dongbert@start.com.au>]

In the early 1980s the loop line was still intact - State Rail sometimes ran
freights along it when trackwork was underway on the Main. I remember around
1984 a freight train derailed and demolished what was left of Buxton
Station.

But by the late 80s the line between Braemar and Buxton had fallen into
disuse and a bushfire near Colo Vale burned out a bridge. Services were
officially suspended then and the staff Picton - Mittagong (which had to be
transferred by road whenever trips ran to Braemar!) was withdrawn and
replaced with two separate staves - one for the RTM end and one for the
Braemar end.

There was a proposal simetime in the late-80s early-90s (when I had lots of
time to pursue these interests!) to reopen the loop line as a Fast Freight
Mainline. The theory was that modern motive power was less affected by hills
and more affected by curves... the current mainline was built to accomodate
steam that didn't like hills and ran slow enough to cope ok with curves...
The idea was to slap a few 81s on the front of a SuperFreighter (remember
them?) and save a lot of time of the Picton-Mittagong section. Needless to
say, reality bit and the matter subsided. This was reported in Railway
Digest and the newspapers of the day; I remember mentioning being quizzed
about it by a Liberal party transport policy person when the Feds were in
opposition but they didn't bite either (are we surprised)? At the time I
thought this use of the loop-line was a good idea.

Theoretically services could be restored - a few new bridges, lots of
rubbish from cuttings (especially from Hill Top's big cutting) would need to
be cleared. I think the cost/benefit would kill it. For the RTM and for
commercial use.

G.

Malcolm Purvis <malcolmpurvis@optushome.com.au> wrote in message
m3ae99orgl.fsf@co3018576-a.rivrw1.nsw.optushome.com.au">news:m3ae99orgl.fsf@co3018576-a.rivrw1.nsw.optushome.com.au...
> >>>>> "Matthew" == Matthew Geier <matthew@mail.usyd.edu.au> writes:
>
> Matthew> The line south of Buxton isnt fit for traffic anyway, it has
suffered
> Matthew> a bit of erosion in places. Nothing a few full balast hoppers, a
> Matthew> tamper and a balast regulator couldn't fix in a few days.
>
> Is this true all the way to Mittagong?  I've wondered on occasion just how
> practical it would be for the RTM to reopen the loop and run its tours
along
> it instead of the main line.
>
> Malcolm