The Gwabegar railway line is a railway line in the Central West and

North West Slopes The North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, refers generally to the area west of the Northern Tablelands, to the north of the Central West region and to the east of the Far West region. Despite its name, the region is in north- ...

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, which passes through the towns of

Mudgee Mudgee is a town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area as well as being th ...

Gulgong Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands and the wider Central West regions of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is situated within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is locate ...

Dunedoo Dunedoo ( ) is a village of 1,021 inhabitants situated within the Warrumbungle Shire of central western New South Wales, Australia. Dunedoo is well known to Australian travellers due to its distinctive name (''Dunny'' is a colloquial Australian ...

, Coonabarabran and terminates at

Gwabegar Gwabegar () is a town in North Eastern New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Narrabri Shire local government area, north west of the state capital, Sydney. At the 2011 census, Gwabegar had a population of 344. The town is in the midd ...

. The section from

Wallerawang Wallerawang is a small township in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately northwest of Lithgow, New South Wales, Lithgow adjacent to the Great Western Highway. It is also located on the Main Western ra ...

to Capertee was opened on 15 May 1882; the section from Capertee to Rylstone on 9 June 1884; the section from Rylstone to Mudgee on 10 September 1884; the section from Mudgee to Gulgong on 14 April 1909; the section from Gulgong to Dunedoo on 28 November 1910; the section from Dunedoo to

Binnaway Binnaway is a small town located on the Castlereagh River in central western New South Wales near the larger centre of Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Coonabarabran, which is about 35 kilometres to the north. In 2016, the town had a population o ...

on 2 April 1917; the section from Binnaway to Coonabarabran on 11 June 1917; and the section from Coonabarabran to Gwabegar on 10 September 1923. Currently, the Gwabegar Line is operational between

to Rylstone and between Gulgong and Binnaway. The line beyond Rylstone to Gulgong and from Binnaway towards the terminus at Gwabegar still remains booked out of use and rail traffic remains suspended."Signaling & infrastructure" ''Railway Digest'' November 2014 page 42"Signaling & infrastructure" ''Railway Digest'' February 2015 page 43 The section of the Line between

Kandos Kandos is a small town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, within Mid-Western Regional Council. The area is the traditional home of the Dabee tribe, of the Wiradjuri people. The town sits beneath Cumber Melon Mountain (fro ...

and Rylstone was restored in 2018 to operate heritage trains between the two railway stations.

Description

The line branches from the Main Western line at

and heads north through the townships of

, Rylstone and Mudgee before reaching

, where there is also a junction to the Sandy Hollow to Gulgong Line. For several years, the section between Kandos and Gulgong was used only for a monthly heritage train service, subject to heavy speed restrictions. The line had previously been closed from 2 March 1992 until 2 September 2000 but was reopened after repairs. Rail traffic on the Gwabegar Line is suspended north of Airly Colliery to Gulgong, however charter services are able to operate conditionally as far as Kandos and sometimes Rylstone. Rail traffic on the section between Binnaway and Gwabegar was suspended 28 October 2005 by the

Rail Infrastructure Corporation Rail Infrastructure Corporation, later known as Country Rail Infrastructure Authority after July 2010, was a Government of New South Wales statutory corporation with responsibility for the management of the railway network in rural New South Wales, ...

(RIC) citing safety concerns arising from degraded infrastructure. In May 2007, RIC announced that rail traffic between Kandos and Gulgong would be suspended from use effective 30 June 2007. In February 2016, the section from Kandos to Rylstone was reopened for a heritage

660 __NOTOC__ Year 660 ( DCLX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 660 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

720 __NOTOC__ Year 720 ( DCCXX) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 720 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

class railcar trip from Lithgow. On 24 October 2017 the NSW State Government announced that $1.1 million would be provided to reinstate an 8 km section of the Line between Kandos and Rylstone, enabling the Kandos Museum, Lachlan Valley Railway and Lithgow State Mines Railway to run tourist trains in the section. Refurbishment work, which includes replacing 3,500 old timber sleepers with long-life steel, commenced in 2018 and continued for several months. The restored section of the Line was officially opened on 29 September 2018.

Services

Primary traffic on the line today is coal trains from the Airly Colliery following the closures of the Baal Bone and Charbon collieries. Coal operations were initiated by the

State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...

at Baal Bone in July 1986 and at Charbon in December 1986. Charbon Colliery closed in 2015. Mining activities ceased at Baal Bone in 2011. The only remaining coal activity north of Wallerawang is at

Airly Colliery Airly is an Australian membership-based private travel provider that was founded in December 2015. Airly's 'JetShare' service allows for booking of private jet flights. Business model In order to reduce on-ground delays, Airly operates out ...

. Cement from Kandos Cement Works was a regular source of traffic until the work's closure in 2011. Grain was formerly shipped from silos at locations such as Gwabegar, Baradine, and Bugaldie, on the now closed section of line north of Binnaway. Silos continue in use at locations such as Neilrex and Birriwa. The flour mill sidings at Gulgong are no longer connected to the line. Passenger services from Lithgow to Gulgong via Mudgee were operated with 620/720 rail cars, then DEB sets until their replacement with coaches in the early 1980s. Commencing in 2018, with the restoration of the Kandos-Rylstone section, Lachlan Valley Railway and Lithgow State Mines Railway regularly operate their heritage train services between Lithgow and Rylstone, with shuttles between Rylstone and Kandos.

References

External links

Gwabegar Line
NSWrail.net
Kandos MuseumLithgow State Mines Railway
{{Railway lines in New South Wales, state=collapsed Railway lines opened in 1882 Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia Central Tablelands