Bethungra Spiral (railway)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Bethungra Spiral is a rail spiral, built on the Main South railway line of New South Wales in Australia at Bethungra to ease the gradients when the line was duplicated between 1941 and 1946.

The original line was graded at 1 in 40 for Sydney bound trains, which imposed a severe limitation on train loads, and also caused congestion as bank engines were attached. The spiral makes use of local geography in the shape of a convenient hill which the uphill line spirals around. Two short tunnels are required. The spiral increases the distance travelled by uphill trains by about 2km. Downhill trains continue to use the original line. The ruling gradient of the new uphill line is now 1 in 66, compensated for curvature.

Bethungra is between Junee and Cootamundra in NSW. The XPT passenger train runs from Sydney Central to Melbourne Southern Cross. The XPT takes about 5 and half hours to reach the Bethungra Spiral from either Sydney or Melbourne.

[edit] Maps

• Bethungra Spiral (railway) is at coordinates 34°45′S 147°53′E / -34.75, 147.88 (Bethungra Spiral (railway))Coordinates: 34°45′S 147°53′E / -34.75, 147.88 (Bethungra Spiral (railway))

• Topo

• Elevation = 432m