On the trail of North West Rail (Part 1)

Sydney's new train arrives in Cherrybrook. It's even got passengers. There they are below!

Alas, the North West Rail Link is a few years away still, and the happy passengers aren't actually riding on their single-deck, driverless, Metro train. They're two dimensional ones on a poster at the station construction site.

At least there is finally something happening to extend the suburban train network. Tunnels are being bored right now between Epping and Bella Vista, and the line will then go to Rouse Hill and beyond on an overhead section.

There are contentious issues around it all though. Such as that it will be deliberately incompatible with the current double-decker train system, and that it will be given to a private company to run. The shiny new Epping to Chatswood line, recently built by us taxpayers and running beautifully, will be given to the private operator too. Passengers from the north west, who will have been coaxed away from their current fast direct express bus services, will have to change trains at Chatswood, and then probably stand for the rest of their trip into the city. Passengers from the stations between Hornsby and Epping, who currently get direct services to the city, will probably have to change trains TWICE once this thing is going.

I thought it was time to do my tour of inspection of progress to date. Most of us have a soft spot for trains after all. I headed first to the Cherrybrook site, where I was able to peer in on the opening to a big hole, around which was lots of activity, a conveyor bringing up a steady stream of pulverised Sydney sandstone, and curved concrete sections which were clearly to become the tunnel lining.

The photo of said concrete sections had to be taken through a tiny accidental gap in the surrounding wall. There were serious looking signs forbidding unauthorised entry to the site, and there were none of the usual viewing holes that you get at so many building sites. It was almost like they aren't very proud of what they're doing.



It was the same story at the other  station sites I checked out. The Bella Vista Berlin Wall is pictured on the right.


Here's the project's official website, with maps and things:  http://nwrail.transport.nsw.gov.au/  (It's rather good actually - there are simulated train rides and things so you can join the other happy passengers already!)

Extreme postcodes: 2849

This one's extreme in terms of the extreme amount of fun that can be had exploring it!

I'm not quite sure whether anyone actually lives within the 2849 postcode area - it covers large areas of national park and state forest. It's north of Clarence (where the Zig Zag Railway used to be till it was burnt out in the big bushfire last year) and east of Newnes. It includes some of the places my Thursday bushwalking group has been happily expeditioning in for the last couple of years: Donkey Mountain and the Glow-Worm Tunnel for example.

This week's Thursday adventure, on the Newnes Plateau, was one of the very best, and postcode 2849 featured again. We headed out to the Blue Mountains, and on to the Bells Line of Road and Dargan. From there it was north along the dirt road (Old Bells Line of Road). We were armed with the relevant topographic maps and an excellent pamphlet ('Short Walks on the Newnes Plateau'), put together by the Colong Foundation for Wilderness: http://www.colongwilderness.org.au/files/pages/short-walks-on-newnes-plateau-15June2009.pdf  

The area is riddled with four wheel drive tracks, and navigation around them takes a bit of care. There are forestry plantations (and log trucks roaring around), there's a big ugly coal mine, there are lots of pegs and other markers indicating all kinds of exploitative and damaging intent. But, there are still areas of amazing natural beauty and fabulous, other-worldly views. Much of it is 'pagoda country', with lots of these so scenic and so climbable things. They're 250 million year old relics of eroded sandstone with ironstone banding, originating in a big river delta of the time.

We checked out four of the scenic short walks (at Bald Trig, Bungleboori Lookout, The Lost City, and Lurline Jack Lookout). We explored a little further around most of them, climbing lots of pagodas along the way. As requested by the Colong Foundation, we took care not to stand on the wafer thin edge bits, as this can damage them (and us, if we fell tens of metres down the cliffs below!)



Because of the fire last year it was all pretty open, and progress through the bush was far easier than it probably would normally be. A lot dirtier too though. We were soon covered in soot and looking like old fashioned coal miners!

We're not yet all pagoda'd out, so I imagine we'll be back in 2849 again before too long!