Picton Loop railway line, New South Wales

Public transport infrastructure in Sydney
logo=
name= Picton to Bowral
transport_mode=Coach loop service
line_owner=
operation_area=Southern Highlands
map_colour=Green
line_length=
stations_number=9
interchange_names=Picton
Thirlmere
Bowral
operator_names=CityRail
date_1=1867
event_1=Rail line opened
date_2=1919
event_2=Bypassed by main south line
date_3=1978
event_3=Rail line closed

The Picton loop railway line is a partly disused railway line between Picton and Mittagong in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. The line consists of the original alignment of the Main South line prior to its replacement with a deviation along more gentle grades to the east. CityRail, the passenger rail brand of RailCorp, operates a coach service in lieu of the former passenger rail service. Six services are provided in each direction on weekdays.

The coach route serves the following stops:
*Picton Railway Station
*Westbourne Avenue, Thirlmere
*West Parade, Couridjah
*West Parade, Buxton
*Wilson Drive, Balmoral
*Wilson Drive, Hill Top
*Wilson Drive and Church Street, Colo Vale
*Mittagong Railway Station
*Bowral Railway Station

History

The Picton-Mittagong line was originally built in 1867 [Singleton, C.C. "Centenary of the opening of the Southern Line to Mittagong" Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin March, 1967 pp49-68] formed part of the Main Southern Line. Stations were constructed at:
* Thirlmere, 1885
* Couridjah, 1867
* Buxton, 1893
* Balmoral, 1878
* Hill Top, 1878
* Colo Vale, 1883
* Braemar, 1867

The original lines, while gently curved, had gradients as steep as 1 in 30, which created a bottleneck as traffic increased. Picton became a busy station with an engine depot for bank engines.

In 1919, the alignment was shifted to an alignment with 300 metre radius curves and much easier 1 in 75 grades. The old line and stations continued to be used for passenger services until 1978. [cite web
last = Bozier
first = Rolfe
coaauthors = "et al"
work = NSWrail.net
title = Picton Loop Line
url= http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:picton_mittagong
accessdate = 2006-12-13 ]

Railway Transport Museum

The New South Wales Rail Transport Museum, located in Thirlmere and accredited as a rail operator, currently leases and maintains a 14-km section of the line to run historic trains. [cite web | title=New South Wales Rail Transport Museum | url=http://www.nswrtm.org/]

References