Clarence Tunnel

Clarence Tunnel
Overview
Line	Main Western railway line
Location	Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°28′42″S 150°13′06″E / 33.478337°S 150.218253°E
Operation
Opened	18 October 1869
Closed	16 October 1910<
Reopened	18 October 1975 (as tourism facility)
Operator	Zig Zag Railway
Technical
Length	439 metres (1,440 ft)

The Clarence Tunnel is a railway tunnel that was originally part of the Main Western railway line across the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It is 493 metres (539 yd) long.^[1]

History and description

The tunnel, located to the west of Clarence, was built by William Watkins and opened on 18 October 1869. The tunnel is almost entirely straight apart from a curve at the Clarence end and is the highest railway tunnel in Australia. The tunnel was closed on 16 October 1910, after being by-passed by a new deviation. After the tunnel's closure, it was utilised for growing mushrooms. In 1944, during World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) stockpiled chemical munitions in the tunnel. The facility was known as No. 4 Sub Depot of No. 1 Central Reserve RAAF and was vacated by the RAAF in 1946.

The tunnel was reopened in 1975 and forms part of the Zig Zag tourist railway.^[2]^[3]

References

^ "NEW SOUTH WALES PARLIAMENT". Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. LIX, no. 9560. New South Wales, Australia. 9 January 1869. p. 5. Retrieved 29 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^ NSW Rail.net - Clarence Tunnel
^ "Zig Zag Railway". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.

[1] "NEW SOUTH WALES PARLIAMENT". Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. LIX, no. 9560. New South Wales, Australia. 9 January 1869. p. 5. Retrieved 29 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.

[2] NSW Rail.net - Clarence Tunnel

[3] "Zig Zag Railway". Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.

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[2]

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v t e Blue Mountains topics
Towns, suburbs and localities	Bell Berambing Bilpin Blaxland Blackheath Bullaburra Clarence Faulconbridge Glenbrook Hartley Vale Hazelbrook Katoomba Kings Tableland Lapstone Lawson Leura Linden Little Hartley Medlow Bath Megalong Mount Irvine Mount Riverview Mount Tomah Mount Victoria Mount Wilson North Katoomba Shipley Springwood Sun Valley Valley Heights Warrimoo Wentworth Falls Winmalee Woodford Yellow Rock Yosemite
Mountain peaks	Banks Bindo Boyce Hay Irvine Narrow Neck Plateau Kings Tableland Piddington Solitary Trickett Wilson York
Tourist attractions	Blue Mountains walking tracks Coxs River track Evans Lookout Hartley Jenolan Caves Katoomba Scenic World Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum Perrys Lookdown Red Hands Cave Three Sisters Valley Heights Rail Museum Zig Zag Railway
Valleys	Grose Jamison Megalong Wolgan
Waterfalls	Govetts Leap Kanangra Katoomba Falls Wentworth
History	1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains Clarence Tunnel Glenbrook rail deviations 1892 1913 Glenbrook tunnels 1892 1913 Lapstone Zig Zag Lennox Bridge, Glenbrook Lithgow Zig Zag
National parks	Blue Mountains Blue Gum Forest Blue Gum Swamp Gardens of Stone Kanangra-Boyd Nattai Thirlmere Lakes Wollemi Yengo
Rivers	Bargo Bedford Capertee Colo Coxs Du Faur Erskine Grose Hollanders Jenolan Jooriland Kedumba Kowmung Little (Oberon) Little (Wollondilly) Macdonald Nattai Nepean Tonalli Wingecarribee Wolgan Wollangambe Wollondilly
Schools	Blaxland High Blue Mountains Grammar Springwood High Winmalee High Warrimoo Public
Miscellaneous	Blue Labyrinth Fantastic Aussie Tours Greater Blue Mountains Area (World Heritage Site) Hokesville Hydro Majestic Hotel Blue Mountains Dams Medlow Dam
Disasters	1999 Glenbrook rail accident 2001 Black Christmas / Warragamba bushfires 2013 New South Wales Bushfires