Skitube Alpine Railway
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The Skitube Alpine Railway is an Australian standard gauge
electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with th ...
in the Kosciuszko National Park in
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. It provides access to the snowfields at Blue Cow Mountain and the
Perisher Valley Perisher Valley, commonly called Perisher, is a valley formed below Mount Perisher, a mountain that is located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, the valley is the site of one ...
.


History

In the 1980s, development of the
Thredbo Thredbo is a village and ski resort in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, situated in a part of the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, and has been operated by Event Hospitality and Entertainment since 1987. It is approximately ...
and
Perisher Valley Perisher Valley, commonly called Perisher, is a valley formed below Mount Perisher, a mountain that is located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, the valley is the site of one ...
skifields was increasing, but the mountain road providing access to them was limited. In 1980 the National Parks & Wildlife Service proposed the establishment of a day visitors resort at Blue Cow Mountain, which would increase the traffic demands. A number of transport modes were examined, including a
funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...
,
chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...
, and an aerial gondola, but all were of limited capacity, affected by weather, and would scar the mountainsides. A rack and pinion railway was found to be the best option, running mostly underground. The Perisher Skitube Joint Venture was established, with Transfield and
Kumagai Gumi is a Japanese construction company founded in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. The company still has registered headquarters in Fukui, but the actual head office is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. History Santaro Kumagai, the company's founder, beg ...
each holding a 49% share. The main proponent of the scheme, Canberra engineer Ken Bilston, held the remaining 2% share and was technical manager for the project. Feasibility studies commenced in 1982 for a double track railway on the assumption that the road would close in winter, but this was altered to a
single track Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
line with
passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...
s when the closure was ruled out. Construction commenced in October 1984, with tunnelling beginning in June 1985. The 3.3 km Bilston Tunnel was constructed using a
tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore thro ...
, while the 2.6 kilometre Blue Cow tunnel was constructed using the traditional "drill and blast" method. A consortium of Swiss and Australian companies ( SLM,
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, and Comeng) provided the rolling stock, overhead wiring, sub-stations, communications and signalling. The 5.9 kilometre line opened from Bullocks Flat to Perisher on 26 July 1987 with the entire line opened through to Blue Cow on 31 March 1988."Skitube"''Railway Digest'' August 1988 pages 296-298 In October 2016, Stadler Rail commenced an upgrade of the line. It was to be completed by April 2017.


Operations

The Swiss-designed railway provides easy access between the
Alpine Way The Alpine Way is a rural road located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The road connects in the east to the New South Wales / Victorian border in the west, crossing the Murray River, near Bringenbrong / Upper ...
at Bullocks Flat and the
Perisher Blue Perisher Ski Resort (known as Perisher Blue until 2009) is the largest ski resort in the Southern Hemisphere. Located in the Australian Snowy Mountains, the resort is an amalgamation of four villages ( Perisher Valley, Smiggin Holes, Guthega, ...
ski resort sites of
Perisher Valley Perisher Valley, commonly called Perisher, is a valley formed below Mount Perisher, a mountain that is located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, the valley is the site of one ...
and Blue Cow Mountain. The Skitube passes through two tunnels and has three stations, two of which are underground. The terminal at Bullocks Flat has parking facilities for 3,500 cars and 250 coaches, as well as passenger, administrative and control facilities. The line begins at an elevation of 1,125 metres and runs above ground for 2.6 kilometres, crossing a three-span 150-metre-long steel truss bridge. A passing loop is located before entering the tunnel, which climbs on a 12.5% gradient to the Perisher Valley terminal. A provision for a second 300-metre-long passing loop has been made inside the tunnel. To Blue Cow the line first drops downgrade, then climbs 1.3 kilometres on a 3% gradient, then climbs at 12.5% to the terminus. The railway reaches a maximum elevation of 1,905 metres above sea level at Mount Blue Cow station. An off-peak schedule is run in early to late June and mid to late September, either side of the peak July–September ski season. Trains run between 05:00 and 01:00, allowing for ''
après-ski A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
'' activities or night skiing. The Bullocks Flat terminus has a large, three-sided station with extensive parking, a pass office, a ski and snowboard school, information desk, kiosk, souvenir shop, and ski and snowboard hire shop. This allows day trippers to get tickets and equipment and be loaded for the 10-minute journey to the Perisher Valley station, and a further 7 minutes to Blue Cow. It is adjacent to the Lake Crackenback Resort.


Technical details

The majority of the railway is underground, comprising the Bilston and Blue Cow tunnels, and long respectively. The depth of the tunnels varies from between , and their
diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...
between . second-hand rail from the
State Rail Authority The State Rail Authority, a former statutory authority of the Government of New South Wales, operated and maintained railways in the Australian state of New South Wales from July 1980 until December 2003. History The ''Transport Authorities Ac ...
was used to build the line, and two electrical substations are fed with 33 kV power, and output 1.5 kV DC for the overhead wiring.


Rolling stock

To operate the service 11 carriages were built by Comeng, Granville and
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. Each is long and wide, and can carry 225 passengers. This provides for the movement of around 4,500 people per hour. Eleven passenger cars in total were built, 4 motor cars, 4 driving trailers and 3 non driving trailers. The motor cars each have four
traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...
s, making them perhaps the most powerful rack railcars in the world. The braking system is mixed regenerative and rheostatic. The train is capable of , however this is limited during the downhill journey to . Two four-wheel 'S'
open wagon Open wagons (trucks in the UK) form a large group of railway goods wagons designed primarily for the transportation of bulk goods that are not moisture-retentive and can usually be tipped, dumped or shovelled. The International Union of Ra ...
s were acquired from the State Rail Authority for freight traffic, and have been cut down to
flat wagon Flat wagons (sometimes flat beds, flats or rail flats, US: flatcars), as classified by the International Union of Railways (UIC), are railway goods wagons that have a flat, usually full-length, deck (or 2 decks on car transporters) and little ...
s. A 1958
Tulloch Limited Tulloch Limited was an Australian engineering and railway rolling stock manufacturer, located at Rhodes, New South Wales. History In 1885 Robert Tulloch founded Phoenix Iron Works in Pyrmont. In 1913 the business was incorporated as Tulloch's ...
built locomotive was also purchased. The trains of the Skitube operate on the Lamella rack system, which was developed by
Von Roll Holding Von Roll Holding AG is a Swiss industrial group that operates worldwide. It was founded in 1803. As one of Switzerland’s longest-established industrial companies, Von Roll focuses today on products and systems for electrical applications such ...
.


Stations

*
Blue Cow Blue Cow may refer to: * Blue Cow (cartoon), a cartoon cow who appears in both ''The Story Makers'' and ''Tikkabilla'' * Blue Cow, New South Wales, a village in NSW, Australia * The Blue Cow, one of the "blue" public houses and inns in Grantham * B ...
* Bullocks Flat *
Perisher Valley Perisher Valley, commonly called Perisher, is a valley formed below Mount Perisher, a mountain that is located in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, the valley is the site of one ...


References


External links

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Skitube information
{{coord, 36, 22, S, 148, 24, E, region:AU-NSW_type:city_source:dewiki, display=title Broadspectrum Mountain railways Rack railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 1988 Regional railway lines in New South Wales Snowy Mountains Standard gauge railways in Australia Tourist railways in New South Wales 1988 establishments in Australia