Re: Mystery railway track between Helensburgh and Otford.
Dave Woolley (dwoolley@ozemail.com.au)
Mon, 12 May 1997 08:39:27 +1000
Peter Ho wrote:
>
> What is the purpose of the one railway track which turns out from
> Helensburgh from the main Illawarra/South Coast railway line and then
> crosses the bridge on top of the main Illawarra/South Coast railway line
> Where does the mystery track led to? And I sometimes seen Lithgow to
> Port Kembla coal train use the mystery track.
>
> And sometimes I seen one or two locomotives pulling the 32 coal trains
> and the other locomotive pushing at the end, is it a normal practice as
> opposed to having two or three locomotives pulling 32 coal trains,
> because I once seen then running past Stanwell Park station towards
> Wollongong.
>
The line in question serves the Metropolitan Colliery. I think most of
it's coal heads towards Newcastle. As for Lithgow-Pt Kembla traffic I
would be very surprised.
As a matter of interest see if you can spot the old formation for the
original single track Illawarra line just south of Metropolitan
Junction. The original line run directly from just north of the present
Helensburgh station to just south of the junction. Had the opportunity
to explore the old no. 3 tunnel under Helensburgh when it was being
cleaned out. It had been used as a reseviour for Metropolitan Colliery
for the last 70 or so years.
--
Dave Woolley
dwoolley@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dwoolley