The Ardglen Tunnel, also called the Liverpool Range tunnel, is a

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

summit

rail tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...

located on the Main North railway between the village of Ardglen and

Murrurundi Murrurundi ( ) is a rural town located in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Murrurundi is situated northwest by road from Newcastle and north from Sydney. At the the town had a population of 8 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia. The tunnel crosses under the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plat ...

near its east end, below Nowlands Gap (otherwise known as Murrurundi Gap), the crossing used by the

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, Queensland, Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland, at its northern end to Hexham, New South Wales, Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, ...

, and provides a vital link between

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had a ...

. The tunnel was completed in 1877 and is owned by the

Transport Asset Holding Entity The Transport Asset Manager of New South Wales (TAM) is an agency of the Government of New South Wales under the ''Transport Administration Act 1988''. It was previously a state-owned corporation known as the Transport Asset Holding Entity of ...

, a

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of the

Government of New South Wales The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...

. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

Description

The tunnel is long, and is approached on either side by climbs at the

ruling grade In railroading, the ruling grade is steepest grade on the rail line between two locations. Climbing the steepest part of the line dictates the minimum motive power needed, or how light the train must be, in order for the run to be made without ass ...

of 1 in 40 (2.5%). The

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 ...

tunnel, the oldest of its type in use in New South Wales, when combined with the steep grades, make this section of the Main North rail line a rail

bottleneck Bottleneck may refer to: * the narrowed portion (neck) of a bottle Science and technology * Bottleneck (engineering), where the performance of an entire system is limited by a single component * Bottleneck (network), in a communication network * ...

. Construction of the tunnel was commenced by boring from both ends. The new line from Murrurundi had been finished up to the east of the tunnel to aid in the supply of materials, and the two bores had met with the tunnel navigable by foot. By June 1876 the tunnel was enlarged and brick lined with track laid. The contractors engine made it through the tunnel by July 1876. The line to Quirindi was opened in August 1877.

Fumes

The Ardglen Tunnel is at the summit of

s, and because of its narrow profile, it created fume problems during steam days. Larger locomotives, such as the 60-class

Garratt A Garratt locomotive is a type of articulated steam locomotive invented by the engineer Herbert William Garratt that is articulated into three parts. Its boiler, firebox, and cab are mounted on a centre frame or "bridge". The two other ...

, were either prohibited or limited in load. Fortunately most heavy trains went through the tunnel in the downhill direction, towards

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Proposed deviations

To cope with considerably increased coal traffic from north of the tunnel from 2010 and beyond, various deviations are proposed. These deviations can either keep the existing summit tunnel, or bore a much longer tunnel at a lower elevation. The deviations that keep the existing tunnel increase the length of the line so as to ease the gradient to 1 in 80 which is the ruling gradient on the rest of the line to the port. The existing line would be retained for empty trains going the other way, so forming

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most li ...

Stations

The stations on either side of Ardglen Tunnel from the south are: *

– medium length

crossing 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 o ...

and start of ruling grades. Had a locomotive depot for

bank engine A bank engine (United Kingdom/Australia) (colloquially a banker), banking engine, helper engine or pusher engine (North America) is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a grad ...

s in steam days * Pangela – closed short crossing loop on ruling gradient * Ardglen Tunnel – summit * Ardglen – medium length crossing loop and railway station, being further lengthened in 2010 * Kankool – short crossing loop on ruling gradient *

Willow Tree Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

– medium length crossing loop and railway station and end of ruling grades

Heritage listing

Ardglen tunnel is of high significance as the oldest single line tunnel in use in the State and as one of the very few remaining single line tunnels in use. It is also an important landscape element at the head of the ridge which is approached by steep grades in both directions. Ardglen Tunnel was listed on the

on 2 April 1999 having satisfied the following criteria. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. This item is assessed as historically rare. This item is assessed as scientifically rare. This item is assessed as archeologically rare. This item is assessed as socially rare.

References

Attribution

* * *{{NSW-SHR-CC-contains, name=Ardglen Railway Tunnel, dno=4280220, id=, year=2018, accessdate=2 June 2018

External links

72 wagon coal train trial

Ardglen quarry and siding map

Liverpool Plains Shire Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Railway tunnels in New South Wales New South Wales State Heritage Register Tunnels completed in 1877 1877 establishments in Australia Murrurundi Main North railway line, New South Wales