West Coast Wilderness Railway
| West Coast Wilderness Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Rack locomotive on the turntable of the
West Coast Wilderness Railway in Tasmania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 34.5 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1067 mm ( cape track ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 66.7 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rack system : | System dept | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The West Coast Wilderness Railway is a restored gear - narrow-gauge railway on the route of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company between Queenstown and Regatta Point in Strahan in Tasmania .
history
Original use
The Mount Lyell Mining Co was founded in November 1892 and on 29 March 1893, the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company renamed. The first section of the railway was officially opened in 1897, and the second section from Teepookana to Regatta Point near Strahan on November 1, 1899.
The railroad was the only way to market copper from the Queenstown mine . Until 1932, when the road to Hobart was completed, it was the only approach to Queenstown.
The 34.5 km long narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 1,067 mm (3 feet 6 inches ) used the Abt rack system developed by Carl Roman Abt on the steep sections . The steepest gradient was 1 m in 15 m (66.7 ‰ ). That is why the total weight of the trains was limited from the start.
The original railway line had extensions to the Queenstown site and from Regatta Point to Strahan to branch off the state-owned Strahan-Zeehan Railway to Zeehan .
The railroad service was set on August 10, 1963 because of rising maintenance costs and competition from road traffic on the Murchison Highway . The last train was pulled by the same locomotive as the first in 1896: ABT 1 . The tracks and other movable objects were demolished for scrapping, but most of the bridges remained in place.
After the railway closed, the rolling stock was distributed: the wagons went to the Puffing Billy Railway in Victoria and the Abbot locomotives were exhibited in museums.
Restoration
Despite some suggestions since 1963, it was not until the 1990s that some enthusiastic West Coast residents launched a campaign for the restoration of the cogwheel railway for the preservation of historical heritage and as a tourist attraction, at a time when the Mount Lyell Company had already ceased mining operations and Hydro Tasmania's dam construction activities have already been shut down.
The restoration was made possible by a government grant of AU $ 20.45 million from the Australian Government Prime Minister's Federal Fund , with broad contributions from the state government and private investors. The restored railway was officially put into operation on December 27, 2002 as the Abbot Wilderness Railway by the Australian Prime Minister John Howard and the Tasmanian Prime Minister Jim Bacon in 2003.
The route follows the original route with the exception of the so-called 'Quarter Mile Bridge' near Teepookana (Tasmania) . After the old bridge was damaged in the 1974 flood, a new, slightly shorter bridge was built a little further south.
Of the original 5 steam locomotives, ABT 1 and ABT 3 were overhauled in 2001 and ABT 5 in 2005. The steam locomotive ABT 2 is exhibited in the Tasmanian Transport Museum in Glenorchy near Hobart. The steam locomotive ABT 4 was dismantled as a parts donor for the other locomotives. The passenger cars are new builds.
Operational changes
The restored railroad was operated by the Federal Group . On February 4, 2013, she announced that she would have to end the leasing of the route in April 2013 because of the loss of sales and high investment costs for the infrastructure. The government of Tasmania estimated the maintenance costs at AU $ 15 to 20 million and stated that the government could not provide this sum alone without private investors.
After track construction, the railway was put back into service on January 6, 2014 between Queenstown and Dubbil Barril, while further work was carried out on the section from Dubbil Barril to Regatta Point.
literature
- Lou Rae: The Abt Railway and Railways of the Lyell region 2001, ISBN 0-9592098-7-5 .
- Lou Rae: The Abt Railway: Tasmania's West Coast Wilderness Railway . The Author, Sandy Bay, Tas. 2003, ISBN 0-9592098-8-3 .
- Lou Rae: The Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Co. Ltd: a pictorial history 1893-1993 1993, ISBN 0-9592098-3-2 .
- David Jehan: Rack Railways of Australia . The Author, 2003, ISBN 0-9750452-0-2 .
- Atkinson, HK: Railway Tickets of Tasmania 1991, ISBN 0-9598718-7-X .
- Charles Whitham : Western Tasmania — a land of riches and beauty , Reprint 2003. Edition, Municipality of Queenstown, Queenstown 2003.
- 1949 edition — Hobart: Davies Brothers. OCLC 48825404
- 1924 edition — Queenstown: Mount Lyell Tourist Association. OCLC 35070001
- Geoffrey Blainey : The Peaks of Lyell 1954.
- Palmer, BA: Picnic Day on the Mount Lyell Railway . In: Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin . September 1963.
- Michael Chapman: Steepest and Hardest . In: Narrow Gauge World . 60, November – December 2008.
- (2004). Tasmania's West Coast Wilderness Railway: the rebirth of a remarkable engineering achievement [DVD video]. Peter Richman Productions.
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Jehan: Rack Railways of Australia , 2nd. Edition, Illawarra Light Railway Museum Society, 2003, ISBN 0-9750452-0-2 .
- ↑ http://www.queenstowntasmania.com/Railway_Past_And_Future_Page.php
- ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-04/jobs-in-balance-as-tourist-railway-closes/4499832
- ↑ Abbot Latest News: Progress Update - November 15, 2013 . Tasmanian Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources. November 15, 2013. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 11, 2014.
- ^ Tassie's West Coast Wilderness railway reopens . RailExpress.com.au. January 15, 2014. Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
Web links
- http://www.wcwr.com.au/ www.wcwr.com.au