The Glenbrook Tunnel is a

double-track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

railway tunnel Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

located on the Main Western Line, near Glenbrook, in the

City of Blue Mountains The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains range west of Sydney. The Mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is coun ...

local government area of

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. The property is owned by

RailCorp Rail Corporation New South Wales (RailCorp) was an agency of the State of New South Wales, Australia established under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988'' in 2004. It was a division under the control of Transport for NSW since the latter' ...

, an

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of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...

. The railway tunnel is part of the Glenbrook 1913 double-track deviation, which replaced the Glenbrook 1892 single-track deviation across the Blue Mountains. The tunnel is long and was officially opened on 11 May 1913.

Description

At , the 1913 tunnel was shorter than the 1892 Glenbrook Tunnel. However, the 1913 deviation was approximately longer than the 1892 deviation. The 1913 deviation did not improve the time taken to climb or descend the pass between

Emu Plains Emu Plains is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney re ...

and Blaxland stations, however a reduction in gradient from 1:30 to 1:60 made the pass more manageable and reduced challenges with steam locomotives in tunnels on significant gradients, including reducing the possibility of suffocation. Initially it was planned to continue use of the 1892 tunnel for trains that head east from the Blue Mountains towards Emu Plains station. When the deviation opened in May 1913, the single-track 1892 tunnel, with a gradient of 1:30, was used for east-bound trains and the new 1913 tunnel, with a gradient of 1:60, was used for west-bound trains. After the new line duplication was completed on 25 September 1913, the old (1892) Glenbrook Tunnel was no longer used for trains and the old Glenbrook station was closed. Steel sleepers were used instead of traditional wooden sleepers. Electricity supplied power to the tunnel for lighting and electric fans used to maintain air quality. The improvements to the Main Western Line resulted in rapid development of the Blue Mountains area as both a residential and tourism destination.

Slab track

Rail Glenbrook Tunnel Ballast-Slab Transition

The track through this tunnel was eventually converted to so-called

Slab track A ballastless track or slab track is a type of railway track infrastructure in which the traditional elastic combination of ties/sleepers and ballast is replaced by a rigid construction of concrete or asphalt. Characteristics In ballastless t ...

whereby the ballast was replaced by a concrete slab. This would have improved clearances inside the tunnel. But slab track created a new problems, namely that the slab track was stiffer than the ballasted track that adjoined it, and a transition was needed between the two stiffness levels. The transition was implemented by installing two extra "check rails" extending, say, 20m into the tunnel and 20m along the ballasted track. This created its own problem in that the last 20m of ballasted track was difficult to

tamp A tamp is a device used to compact or flatten an aggregate or another powdered or granular material, typically to make it resistant to further compression or simply to increase its density. Examples * Small, handheld tampers are used to compres ...

because of the extra rails.

References

{{Blue Mountains topics, state=collapsed Railway tunnels in New South Wales Tunnels completed in 1913 1913 establishments in Australia Glenbrook, New South Wales History of the Blue Mountains (New South Wales) Main Western railway line, New South Wales

Description

Slab track

See also

References