The Oberon railway line is a short branch

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

in the

Central Tablelands The Central Tablelands in New South Wales is a geographic area that lies between the Sydney Metropolitan Area and the Central Western Slopes and Plains. The Great Dividing Range passes in a north–south direction through the Central Tablelands ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The line branches from the Main Western line at

Tarana railway station Tarana railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Western line in Tarana, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as the Tarana Railway Station and yard group. The property was ...

and heads in a southerly direction to

Oberon railway station The Oberon railway station is a heritage-listed railway station and now museum located on the Oberon railway line in Oberon, in the Oberon Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The site is also known as the Oberon Railw ...

, with length of 24 km. Since 2007, the

Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway The Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway inc (OTHR) is a volunteer association aiming to reopen the Oberon to Tarana railway line in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, and run heritage trains. The line The Oberon railway line is ...

Inc (OTHR) have been steadily restoring track on the line.

History

It was earlier put forward as a line from Tarana to

Burraga Burraga is located in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, 47 kilometres south west of Oberon and about south of Bathurst. It is within Oberon Shire. At the , Burraga had a population of 91, declining to 82 in 2021. History Aborigina ...

, via

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

, to benefit the Burraga copper mine. It opened on 3 October 1923, after the copper mine at Burraga had closed down. The line was lightly constructed with steep grades (1 in 25) and tight curves, and was operated by lightweight steam and then diesel locomotives. It transported local seasonal vegetables, timber, livestock, and other goods. Passenger services ended in 1971, and goods services were suspended in 1979; the line was never formerly closed. The line is currently being restored by a volunteer association to allow heritage and tourist operation.

History

See also

References

Further reading