The Tocumwal 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. The line branched from the still open
Junee – Hay line at
Narrandera station and then headed south west to
Tocumwal station where there was a
break-of-gauge with the
Victorian Railways
The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...
Goulburn Valley line from Shepparton.
The line was opened to
Jerilderie station in 1884, extended to
Berrigan in 1896,
Finley in 1898 and
Tocumwal in 1914. The Victorian line had reached Tocumwal in July 1908.
Two of the stations on the Tocumwal railway line were
Widgiewa and
Morundah.
The last goods train left Tocumwal for Narrandera in 1985, and traffic ceased over the line south of Jerilderie in September 1986 and the entire line was closed in December 1988. The Victorian line to Tocumwal remains open for freight traffic.
Tocumwal was the site in 1915 of early tests with third-rail devices to enable
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...
and
broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...
trains to share the same tracks.
In later years passenger services on the line were operated by railcars, connecting with an overnight train at Narrandera. From 1973 the service operated three days per week, until their withdrawal on Saturday 26 November 1983. The final passenger service was a special excursion train operated with a
Silver City Comet
The Silver City Comet was a train service that operated from September 1937 until November 1989 between Parkes and Broken Hill in western New South Wales. It was the first air-conditioned train in Australia.
Design
The original engines were bu ...
railcar set on 20 September 1986.
A 2018 report addresses the feasibility of re-opening the line, given that the still-operating line south from Tocumwal could be converted to standard gauge. The report finds that re-opening would not be financially justified although it might be justified on economic or environmental grounds.
References
External links
NSWrail.net Tocumwal line
Closed regional railway lines in New South Wales
Standard gauge railways in Australia
Railway lines opened in 1914
Railway lines closed in 1986
{{NewSouthWales-rail-transport-stub