The Unanderra–Moss Vale railway line is a cross country 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 line branches from the

Illawarra line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra Railway) is a commuter and goods railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry in New South Wales, Australia. Beginning at the Illawarra Junction, the line services the Illawarra a ...

Unanderra Unanderra ( ) is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 6 km south-west of the Wollongong CBD. It is bordered to the west by Farmborough, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights in the Mount Kembla ...

and winds west up the Illawarra escarpment to join the

Main South line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has several he ...

. The line is one of the most scenic in New South Wales, and for the first after leaving Unanderra has an almost continuous grade 1 in 30 providing extensive views over the Illawarra coastline.

Route

The line is in length, and is double track from

to Dombarton. The line then becomes single track with several crossing loops. Legacies of the abandoned Maldon – Dombarton railway line that was partly built in the 1980s are a bridge over the old Princes Highway at Unanderra, double track section to Dombarton and unfinished electrification masts. The single track bridge at Dombarton was recycled in February 1992, being installed on the Lavender Bay branch of the North Shore line at Waverton. The line connects the following current and former passenger stations: *

– junction with

* Dombarton – end of double line (formerly the site of an unusual crossing loop arrangement) * Summit Tank (platform only) (crossing loop) *

Mount Murray Mount Murray is a hill above sea level on the Isle of Man located at the northern end of Santon, near the boundaries with Marown and Braddan parishes. It is named after Lord Henry Murray, 4th Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man. Often ref ...

(closed) (crossing loop reopened 1980s) *Ocean View (closed 1968) *Ranelagh House (platform only) *

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Places ...

(platform) (crossing loop) * Burrawang (closed 1975) * Calwalla (closed 1976) (crossing loop reopened 1980s) *

– triangular junction with

History

The line was first proposed in the 1880s by residents of

and local industry keen for a connection to the port at

Port Kembla A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

Unanderra - Moss Vale railway line memorial plaque

Construction began on 26 June 1925, and the line opened on 20 August 1932. Because parts of the line are susceptible to falling rocks

snow sheds Avalanche control or avalanche defense activities reduce the hazard avalanches pose to human life, activity, and property.Marulan Marulan is the traditional lands of the Gundungurra people. It is a small town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in the Goulburn Mulwaree Council local government area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway ...

Quarry to

Steelworks, but also vegetables from

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and later, coal. Passenger services began in August 1932 with

CPH railmotor The CPH (or 42 foot) rail motors were introduced by the New South Wales Government Railways in 1923 to provide feeder service on country branch lines. Introduction Often referred to as "Tin Hares", having evolved at the same time as the mechanica ...

s. From 1938 these were replaced by 30 class steam locomotives. From February 1967 the CPHs once again operated the service. The weekday service was replaced by road transport in September 1985. A locomotive hauled weekend train from

to Moss Vale via Unanderra was introduced and operated until July 1994. It was replaced by an

Endeavour railcar The Endeavour Railcars are a class of diesel multiple units operated by NSW TrainLink on passenger rail services in New South Wales, Australia on the Hunter, Blue Mountains (to Bathurst), Southern Highlands and South Coast lines (between ...

service from

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

. Following the NSW Department of Transport seeking expressions of interest to take over the weekends only passenger service as a tourist operation,

3801 Limited East Coast Heritage Rail is a not for profit company limited by guarantee formed in June 1985 as 3801 Limited to operate steam locomotive 3801 and its associated rolling stock. The company operated heritage train tours from 1986 until 2017, with ...

commenced the Cockatoo Run heritage tourist train on 19 August 1995. Initially the train operated from a base established in the

Locomotive Depot Complex as a return

service. Steam locomotive SMR18 was leased by 3801 Limited from the Hunter Valley Training Company for the service. Financial difficulties led to the suspension of the Cockatoo Run from November 1998 until March 1999, after which date the train ran between Port Kembla and Robertson only. Furthermore, it was diesel hauled and ran for nine months of the year. From March 2001, the Cockatoo Run was merged with another of the 3801 Limited's operations, the Long Lunch Train. This service operated on selected Sundays and Wednesdays or Thursdays with heritage diesel locomotives. It has on occasions operated with steam locomotives from 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 ...

and

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

. The Cockatoo Run currently operates on selected Sundays. In 2022, the railway line was damaged due to rain erosion. Maintenance workers closed the line in a period of 7 months. In October, the line will be re-opened.

Services

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

road

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

service is now provided in lieu of the former rail service. The three times daily service stops at

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering an area 7.15 square kilometres in size. As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,730. History ...

and

Albion Park Albion Park is a suburb situated in the Macquarie Valley in the City of Shellharbour, which is in turn one of the three local government areas that comprise the Wollongong Metropolitan Area, New South Wales, Australia. Although it is surround ...

stations, Hoddle Street Burrawang, Illawarra Highway

, then at

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, about ninety minutes southwest of Sydney. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and Highlands. Bowral once served ...

and

stations. One service per day also serves

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and

Bundanoon Bundanoon is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire, on Gandangarra and Dharawal Country (where these two countries meet). It is an Aboriginal name meaning "place of deep gullies" and was formerl ...

stations. Limestone freight continues to operate, and the line remains a valuable freight link to the shipping terminal at Port Kembla and various industries in the Illawarra region. It is a useful bypass line when engineering works close the

. The line remains popular with steam locomotive hauled services from Sydney as the line allows them to operate a loop without the need to turn the locomotive.

Deviation

A section of the line was deviated in 1973 to avoid Wingecarribee Reservoir.

Derailment

On 15 December 2020, 39 wagons of a grain train on its way to

were derailed near Farmborough Heights around 5.00am, losing most of its 2,600 tonnes of grain.Freight train hauling grain derails at Farmborough Heights in NSW
ABC News 15 December 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unanderra-Moss Vale railway line Railway lines opened in 1932 Regional railway lines in New South Wales Standard gauge railways in Australia Transport in Wollongong