Very soon one of Australia's most well known and popular tourism icons, the
Scenic Railway at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, NSW, will be undergoing a
major overhaul with track being ripped up and replace and carriages becoming
museum pieces or playthings for kids.
This internationally renowned and recognised railway is considered to be the
steepest one in the world, with an eye-bulging 52 degrees incline and a 450
metre drop into the the picturesque Jamison Valley.
But it's not the end of the line, because, come the end of March, a new
railway, costing $30m and designed by a Swiss company, will replace the existing
system. In addition, their will be new stations build at both the top and the
bottom of the route.
Scenic Railway, Blue Mountains From Above
Since 1945, when the railway opened, it has carried over 25 million
passengers down into ancient rain forests and valleys which were once coal mined
for coal.
Although the scenic railway system commenced in 1945, tourists, from as far
back as 1928, descended into Jamison Valley kneeling on chaff bags placed on the
floor of open wagons of a narrow-gauge tramway which covered the route.
Tn 1945 the Scenic Railway, as we know it today, was opened by brother and
sister team Harry Hammond and Isobel Fahey. They acquired the lease of one of the
tram lines that has been there since the 1880s to haul kerosene shale and coal
out of the Jamison and neighbouring Regaling Valley.
The enterprising Harry and Isobel knew the history and interest of tourists
and their excitement to venture down to the valley floor down the steep incline.
So, with the decline of mining and mining Company liquidations in the area, they
bought up the lease to reinvigorate what was a tourism boom in the Blue
Mountains prior to the Second World War.
Scenic Railway Original Coal Mine
Their venture was registered as Scenic World. They later opened the first
cable-car in Australia, the Scenic Skyway that crosses over the Katoomba Falls
Gorge, and later still opened the first revolving restaurant also at Katoomba.
Following from this they built the 2.4km Scenic walkway through the Jamison
Valley rain forest canopy and the Scenic Cableway into Jamison.
It was explorers in the early 1800s that noticed the areas potential for coal
mining and it was pioneers of the time who gave landmarks and tracks those
interesting and unique descriptors; The Three Sisters, solitary Orphan Rock, the
Golden Stairs, Dixon's Ladder, Ruined Castle, Narrow Neck, let's not forget
Echo Point and. And the tiny community of Nellie’s Glen that was after the
daughter of early miner, John Britty North.
Scenic Railway ... So Steep
The township of Nellie's Glen soon had a respectively sized hotel, bakery,
post office, general store, school, butchers and public hall but in the late
1890s, when the mining died out, most of the township relocated to Katoomba.
From the original hotel came the Maldwin Guest House. The remainder of the
small township of was reclaimed by the rain forest.
However, it's the Scenic Railway that's remained the jewel as both an ageless
and historic attraction enabling tourist to access the Jamison Valley floor and
to then have a choice of varying length bush tracks and boardwalks to
discover the enchanting world of the Valley before making their way back up to
Katoomba.
