The Eugowra railway line is a closed railway line in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The branch line joins the Blayney-Demondrille line at

Cowra Cowra is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre and the council seat for the Cowra Shire, with a population of 9,863. Cowra is located approximately above sea level, on the ...

Construction

The Cowra to Canowindra Railway Act was passed on 15 December 1908. Land acquisitions proceeded rapidly, with the first sod of the new lined turned at Cowra West on 11 January 1909. John Bradfield, who went on to design the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

, prepared layout plans as assistant engineer on the project. The line was built to so-called "pioneer" standards – earth ballasted with no fences. The branch line to

Canowindra Situated on the Belubula River, Canowindra (pronounced ) is a historic township and largest population centre in Cabonne Shire and is located between Orange and Cowra in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. The curving main street ...

was opened with great fanfare on 4 July 1910. The opening of the line proved an economic boon to the town, with Canowindra's population increasing from 400 prior to 1900, to 1500 and rising in 1911. An extension to

Eugowra Eugowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is split between Forbes Shire and Cabonne Shire local government area, west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Eugowra had a population of 779. Geogr ...

was opened on 11 December 1922. Further extensions to link up with the Main Western Line, one at Gregra and another at

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

, were approved in 1924, but never built.

Freight and passenger services

Due to the relative shortness of the branch, the main use of the line was for grain haulage rather than passengers. In 1927 a rail-motor coach replaced steam locomotives for passenger transport. The "Tin Hare", as the coach was affectionately known, provided a daily return service on weekdays between Cowra and Eugowra. With improving road transport links, demand for passenger services on the line gradually decreased. In the years leading up to the service's cessation on 10 August 1974, the few passengers that used the service had been carried in the brake carriage of the regular grain service. Freight services continued into the 1990s. A washout near Eugowra in 1991 resulted in the line being truncated at Trajere. The entire line was closed by the end of the year. The

Lachlan Valley Railway The Lachlan Valley Railway Society is an Australian rail preservation society based in the New South Wales Central Western town of Cowra. It was established in 1974 to preserve and operate former New South Wales Government Railways locomotives ...

operated a tourist railway on the line from 1994. Floods in 2001 damaged a bridge at Cucumber Creek, closing the line permanently. As of 2014, there are no plans to reopen the branch.

References

Closed regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 1922 Railway lines closed in 1991 Blayney–Demondrille railway line {{NewSouthWales-rail-transport-stub