On the last weekend in September a rare thing happened. A piece of country railway line reopened – the Kandos Rylstone railway heritage precinct.
After almost a year of lobbying by Kandos Museum and Lithgow State Mine Railway an eight kilometre section of track between Kandos and Rylstone was refurbished in a clever plan to bring heritage rail tours to the district and a much needed boost to the local economy.
The State Government has made a $1.1 million investment in this project – 3,500 old timber sleepers were replaced with new long-life steel sleepers, 1,000 tonnes of stone ballast was laid to support the track. New signalling work, including the recommissioning of a level crossing was also completed.
Ultimately a special train to be known as the Rylstone Rambler will be at the centre of the plan, but it’s still undergoing restoration.
So in its stead, to mark the official reopening of the Kandos Rylstone section of the Gwabegar railway line, the spectacular 6029 Beyer Garratt steam locomotive was enlisted to bring the first official train load of rail enthusiasts into town.
Not to be missed – we bought our tickets (about $60) and got on board. The train left Lithgow at 9.05am and arrived in Kandos at 10.45am. It made two trips to Rylstone and back – one leaving at 11.45am and another at 1.15pm. The train left for the return to Lithgow at 2.35pm, but took a little longer due to a stop while the steam loco was shunted back to the front of the train. It’s possible to do this as a day trip from Sydney of the Central Coast – and one mad said he had driven three hours from Kiama to Lithgow to join.
What we did
Ride the train
The 6029 Beyer Garratt is a loco not to be sneezed at – it’s the largest operational steam train in the southern hemisphere. Steam buff or not, its hard not to be impressed as it pulls into the station all hissing and steaming with a blast of the whistle.
This mighty survivor from post WWII Australia was built by Beyer, Peacock and Co and is noted for its unusual design consisting of a steam engine with leading and trailing locomotive units pivoted between a common boiler – which actually means nothing to me – but I read that this configuration allowed 6029 to traverse tight curves. The train is usually housed at the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere.
Down the line
After departing Lithgow, we steamed out along the Western line until near Wallerawang, we divert onto the Gwabegar line. Gwabegar is a little ex-timber town in the Pillega forest hundreds of kilometres to the north west where this piece of railway line ultimately reached in 1923.
The first bit of the Gwabegar opened in 1882 toward Capertee and was then extended to Kandos and Rylstone in 1884 and then pushing on to Mudgee. The line was a key supply route from Kandos to Sydney, hauling countless tonnes of cement for the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge approach spans and pylons. Passengers also used the line, but those services got the chop in 1885.
Explore Kandos
The town of Kandos is itself a rare thing – a town established in the 19th Century. Most towns in NSW originated in the 18th century. Kandos was established in 1913 as a company town for the New South Wales Cement Lime and Coal Company and it remained an industrial town right up until the cement works closed in 2011 with the loss of many jobs. For decades the limestone was carried up to the cement works by a raised rope-way – and I am old enough to remember watching this in action years ago.
During the trip up to Kandos on the train, someone remarked it could be reinstated as a tourist chair lift from which to view the town and the beautiful scenery which surrounds it. That might be an idea for future Kandos when the tourist dollars start rolling in from the train rides. It’s not a big town and you can take a wander around in no time.
Kandos Museum
The Kandos Museum is in one of the town’s most unusual building – the former Kandos Methodist Church – funded in part by the cement company. The church was built in 1919 and is the first Spanish Mission style church in Australia. Its unique style was derived from the Methodist church in the American home town of the manager of the cement works, Floyd S. Richards.”
Inside there is a well laid out collection of items and artefacts from the industrial and social history of the area. The museum has been instrumental in lobbying for the reopening of the rail line. If you want a heads up about the next rail trip, keep an eye on their website.
What we ate
To be honest we were only in town for a few hours, so we got in the swing of things down on the Railway Green with a very enjoyable barbecued lamb roll and salad. After a lot of walking, we got a delicious piece of caramel slice from Mountain View Bakery. You could also try a number of other cafes and two pubs served meals.
