Description

The Fern Valley Railway’s 240-mile standard-gauge line is located in north-eastern NSW, Australia. Its publicly-owned parent company, the Fern Valley proprietary, (FVP) has extensive mines and industrial plants in the area.

From Port Watson, where the Fern River enters the Pacific Ocean, the FVR’s main line extends inland to Verrell (18 miles) .. the district capital and FVR headquarters .. then across the Great Dividing Range via Summit Tunnel, inland to the Western Plains city of Appleton, NSW. The original main line traversed the Fern Valley itself, further north, but was abandoned due to treacherous terrain and difficult operating conditions west of Hillcrest. Hillcrest remains as a terminal, one of several branch lines still active in the rich mineral fields on both sides of the Range. There is also a joint SRA (ex-NSWGR) – FVR line, extending 120 miles south to Newcastle, NSW’s second city.

History

The Federal Oil Company built the first 18 miles of the FVR in 1908 with British capital, to link a shale oil and coal operation at Verrell with the company’s new Port Watson. The shale oil venture ruined the FOC, but the coal business was promising enough to attract Peabody (US) interests, which took over in 1918, with the Australian Government’s grateful blessing .. any overseas development money was welcome.
By the late- twenties, the original 18-mile main had been electrified, using 1500v overhead; the FVR main had reached its maximum extent and had taken on a decidedly heavy-duty appearance, with heavy rail and large USRA-style mainline locomotives and steel hoppers; the troublesome, steeply graded and curved line beyond Hillcrest had been abandoned and replaced by a 3-mile tunnel under the Coastal Range. Passenger traffic, strong even in the FOC era, blossomed under management of the FVP’s predecessor, the new Anglo-Saxon Coal and Iron Corporation.

By the mid-thirties, the Verrell-Newcastle joint line had been realigned; upgraded to accept 10’ wide stock; special trains and locomotives built for the new service.

Today

The FVR still moves a lot of coal, but industrial and agricultural traffic .. and passengers, are major traffic generators. Its main line carries bridge traffic off the SRA’s line west of the Range to its coastal line, links Port Watson and Verrell with the hinterland, while retaining much local and long-distance passenger and mail traffic. It jointly operates the busy Verrell – Newcastle main, with its highly regarded Pacific Coast and Sunrise express services.

The suburban electrification still exists and has been extended with an underground City Loop at Port Watson. Its elderly electric rolling stock is something of a local political ‘hot potato’. The original stock is still operating, though well overdue for replacement .. or abandonment.

The stub of the old main, to Hillcrest, carries heavy ore, coal and local traffic, as well as interurban passenger traffic. It is fashionable to live up in the hills and commute to Verrell or Port Watson on the reliable FVR.