Richmond Vale railway line, New South Wales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richmond Vale Railway
Richmond Vale Railway today - disused tunnel #3 eastern portal
Legend km Station 0 Main North line at Hexham Hexham swamp Minmi Junction Orangegrove platform Browns Colliery Duckenfield Colliery Minmi Open Cut Minmi Platform Minmi C Pit Stockrington No 3 Colliery Stockrington No 2 Colliery Stockrington No 1 Colliery Richmond Vale No 1 Tunnel Sugarloaf Tunnel Surveyors Creek Bridge Richmond Vale No 3 Tunnel Wallis Creek Bridge Richmond Vale Junction Richmond Main Colliery Pelaw Main Colliery South Maitland Railway

The Richmond Vale Railway was a colliery railway line in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, servicing coal mines at Minmi, Stockrington, Pelaw Main and Richmond Main. It was over sixteen miles long and passed through three tunnels, and was the last privately-owned, non-tourist, railway in Australia to use steam locomotives.^[1][2]

[edit] History

Coal train on the Richmond Vale Railway.

The line was privately owned, by J. & A. Brown and Abermain Seaham Collieries Limited and then its successor company, Coal and Allied Industries. It was constructed in sections, the earliest section being from Hexham to Minmi, built by John Eales in 1856 to service his colliery at Minmi (later bought out by J. & A. Brown). At the Hexham Exchange Sidings trains either joined the New South Wales Government Railways main north coast line or instead continued across it to J. & A. Brown's coal-loader at Hexham Wharf, on the Hunter River. (The last ship to load coal there was the '60-miler' collier Stephen Brown on 1 November 1967 after which the wharf ceased its operations).

The New South Wales Legislative Assembly passed the Richmond Vale Coal-mine Railway Act in 1900 and a major branch was then constructed from the Minmi line (Minmi Junction) to serve the mines at Stockrington, and from there onwards to Richmond Main Colliery, the line being largely built upon land owned by John Scholey, the founder (c1890) of Richmond Main.

The Richmond Vale railway had two connections to the privately owned South Maitland Railway lines at Pelaw Main, where another large colliery of the same name was situated with locomotive repair facility sheds, and Weston. From 1918 coal from Kurri Kurri's Stanford Merthyr Colliery was taken by rail to the Pelaw Main Colliery (both opened in 1901), and from there transported over the Richmond Vale Railway to either the exchange sidings or the shipping staiths at Hexham. In addition a limited amount of gas coal, from Brown's Stanford Main No.2 Colliery at Paxton, near Cessnock, also destined for the shipping staiths at Hexham, was also shipped over the line.^[3]

The Richmond Vale railway provided a separate route and connection to the Main north line at Hexham and was occasionally used as an alternate route when the South Maitland lines were flooded.^[1] However during the great flood of 1955 the Richmond Vale Railway crossing the Hexham Swamps also gave way on 26 February. It took a week to restore just single-line working from J. & A. Brown's collieries along it, as well as for those served by the wrecked South Maitland Railways. It was not until 8 April 1955 that the latter was returned to service.^[4]

The fastest recorded journey on the line was a late passenger train from Minmi to Hexham at 60 mph (97 km/h).^[5]

[edit] Slump and closure

Richmond Vale railway's No.10, Richmond Main, at 'Doghole' crossing after leaving Stockrington in May 1972.

The 1960s saw a dramatic slump in the coal industry, and J. & A. Brown's Stanford Merthyr Colliery closed. On 14 July 1967, Richmond Main Colliery, in which they held the controlling interest and which had the largest daily production in the State, was also closed (except for its power station, upon which Kurri Kurri relied for their electricity).

J. & A. Brown and Abermain Seaham Collieries Ltd., promptly ceased operations beyond Stockrington No.2 Colliery on the Richmond Vale Railway. All serviceable locomotives were transferred from Richmond Main to the Hexham Exchange Sidings and others transferred to Pelaw Main sheds. Despite Stockrington No.2 Colliery continuing to work at full capacity, following the closure of the line beyond Stockrington the railway began single line working only, on the up line, the down line being used for the storage of surplus coal hopper wagons. This meant a logjam developed from time to time which necessitated week-end workings on the railway in order to reduce colliery stockpiles.^[6] The gross train loads including brakevan were between 750 and 900 tons, about 60 wagons. These heavy trains were often seen making quite rapid progress across the Hexham swamps despite the only source of braking power being the locomotive (i.e: non-air trains).^[7]

Railwaymen protesting against the line's closure encamped alongside it, with their hijacked Beyer-Peacock locomotive, 11 October 1987.

In 1987 Coal and Allied industries decided it was more economical to ship the coal to port by road and announced the closure of the Stockrington to Hexham line. There followed a vigorous protest by the 8 enginemen, both drivers and firemen, in October, involving the hijack of a locomotive, SMR No 25, to no avail, due to lack of support from fellow rail workers and the miners at Stockrington mine,the line was closed at the end of the year.^[2]

Six months later, the Stockrington colliery also closed, as road transport was not the saviour of the mine, as stated previously by mine management,that it would be. It was the forerunner to the planned closure of all coal handling facilities at Hexham. And marked the end of C&A in the lower Hunter Valley.

[edit] Today

Only a section of line at the Richmond Vale railway museum remains open but the formation and tunnels remain in place over the length of the line.

[edit] Future proposals

There has recently been a proposal for a new freight and coal line to bypass the Newcastle urban area. The line would branch off the Main North railway line at Cockle Creek and use much of the old permanent way to West Wallsend^{[citation needed]} to join the Richmond Vale line near Seahampton, then use the northern (Stockrington-Minmi Junction-Hexham) part of the old Richmond Vale railway to connect to the main government line at Hexham.^[8][9]

In the year 2008 operational locomotives for the museum are SMR 10 class No.30, 0-4-0 Saddle Tank Marjorie will be returning to service after running repairs, BHP Diesel locomotive No.34 and Planet Diesel that was a shunter at the now defunked Coffs Harbour Jetty.

Locomotives to be returned to service in the next few years are 0-4-0 saddle tank Kathleen, SMR 10 class No.24, BHP Center cab diesel No. 53. A long term goal is to return ROD locomotive No.23 to near original operational condition.

[edit] References

v • d • e Railway Lines in New South Wales Main lines Broken Hill Line · Main North Line · Main South Line · Main West Line · North Coast Line · South Coast Line   Country Branch lines Berrima Line • Binnaway-Werris Creek Line • Blayney-Demondrille Line • Boggabilla Branch • Bombala Line • Canberra Branch • Cobar Branch • Coonamble Branch • Grenfell Branch • Gwabegar Line • Hay Branch • Lake Cargelligo Branch • Medway Quarry Branch • Mungindi Line • Naradhan Branch • Newcastle branch • Oaklands Branch • Parkes to Narromine Line • Picton Loop Line • Pokataroo Branch • Sandy Hollow - Gulgong Line • South Maitland Railway • Stockinbingal - Parkes Line • Temora to Roto Line • Tottenham Branch • Troy Junction - Merrygoen Line • Unanderra - Moss Vale Line • Walgett Branch • Warren Branch • Yanco - Griffith Line Closed: Ballina line • Barraba line • Belmont line • Boorowa branch • Brewarrina Line • Burcher Branch • Camden Branch • Captains Flat Branch • Corowa Branch • Crookwell line • Dorrigo Line • Holbrook Branch • Kunama (Batlow) Branch • Kywong Branch • Merriwa line • Molong to Dubbo line • Murwillumbah Branch • Newnes line • Oberon Line • Rand Branch • Rankins Springs Branch • Richmond Vale Railway • Taralga Branch • Toronto Line • Tumbarumba Line • Tumut Branch • Westby Branch   Sydney Suburban lines Airport & East Hills Line • Bankstown Line • Carlingford Line • City Circle • Cumberland Line • Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line (Cronulla Line, Eastern Suburbs Line) • Inner West Line • North Shore Line • Northern Line • Olympic Park Line • South Line • Western Line (Richmond Line) Closed: Camden Line • Ropes Creek Line • Royal National Park Line • Rogans Hill Line   InterCity and Regional Passenger Services Blue Mountains Line • Hunter Lines • Newcastle & Central Coast Line • South Coast Line • Southern Highlands Line   Proposed or Under Construction CBD Rail Link • Epping to Chatswood Line • North West Rail Link • South West Rail Link   Tourist railways Richmond Vale Railway • Skitube • Zig Zag Railway   Sydney goods lines Metropolitan Goods Line • Sandown Line • Southern Sydney Freight Line