Zig Zag Goes Straight To Heart
Newcastle Herald
Friday March 30, 2007
A WORLD of wizards or a wonder of 19th-century engineering whichever the Zig Zag Railway at Lithgow brings an opportunity for families to discover some old-fashioned fun while admiring what many consider a construction masterpiece of its time.
Built between 1866 and 1869, the Zig Zag was originally built to take produce to Sydney from the prosperous farming areas beyond the Blue Mountains, along with developing the coal and iron ore industry in the Lithgow Valley.Families have plenty of choices when they visit the Zig Zag Railway, from arranging special adventures for the youngest members of the family on Thomas the Tank Engine excursions to enjoying a unique railway ride over viaducts and through tunnels with a backdrop of magnificent valley views.History buffs will appreciate the accomplishment of building the railway and viaducts in such an amazing location. The Zig Zag Railway brought the Great Western Railway Line from the top of the Blue Mountains, down a sheer precipice into the Lithgow Valley.The first train to travel the Zig Zag was a passenger train that left Sydney at 9am on October 18, 1869. The Zig Zag continued in operation until 1910, when it was bypassed by a 10-tunnel deviation.The Zig Zag lay abandoned until the Second World War, when one of the tunnels, known as Clarence Tunnel, was used as an ammunition store. Post-war, the tunnel was again used, but in a much different way: this time, for growing mushrooms. In 1972 a group of railway enthusiasts formed a co-operative and started to rebuild the track and buy suitable rolling stock. Today, the Zig Zag Railway Co-op Ltd has expanded operations to run daily, using both vintage steam locomotives and diesel rail-motors.
© 2007 Newcastle Herald
