By the 1890's, the Blue Mountains had become an increasingly serious bottleneck on the colony's expanding railway network. In addition to very steep gradients & sharp curves, there were the zig-zags at Lapstone & Lithgow.

George William Townshend was employed by the Works Department before taking leave to develop his scheme for a new railway route. His team of surveyors constructed a track up the formidable Colo River gorge, after which he stood for parliament in the seat of Hawkesbury to promote his scheme.

© Anthony Dunk 
Visit Anthony's web site to see these photos, and more, full size.

Part of the 487,648 ha Wollemi National Park.

Townshend's route, which is marked on old parish maps, had a lot going for it. By passing through, rather than over, the Blue Mountains, the steep gradients were avoided. Furthermore, most of the curves were gentle even by today's standards, although one suspects that many railway lines were planned with gentle curves until the cost-cutting gang moved in. It is worth noting that in the 1890's, Thomas Edison was speaking of electric trains & speeds of 160km/h.

To achieve all this, Townshend made liberal use of tunnels & bridges on the 70 odd kilometres between meeting the Colo River & emerging at Glen Davis.

Roger Caffin: 
Some of the survey track is definitely still visible in places, although other sections have been washed clean by floods. In places it rises quite high above the river. Sometimes it follows a natural flood benching; other times it follows a rock layer benching. For some of the early stages the track carried bullocks, but further on it was reduced to single file horses. Yes, it was nicely engineered (for the era and the resources he had). Some people would like it to be declared a Heritage item before it is lost. 

Route

• To avoid crossing the Hawkesbury River & its flood plain, the line was to start at Emu Plains, rather than Richmond. It would meet the Mudgee Line at Rylstone. 
• Between Wheeny Creek & Colo River there were to be 2 major tunnels. It was to meet the Colo River at a point where the south-flowing river swings back to the north in a U-turn.
• Following the west bank of Colo up to Tootie Creek, the line diverted about 2km up Tootie Creek then tunnelled through to Colo River.
• Between Wollangambe Ck & about 3km upstream of Wollemi Creek, there were to be 8 major tunnels, & 4 crossings of the Colo River. Approximately 6km of winding river was bypassed in the vicinity of the Wollemi Creek junction through the use about 2.5km of tunnels.
• From here to Glen Davis, there appear to have been 2 major tunnels planned, at least 4 minor ones, & 2 closely spaced crossings of the Capertee River.
• From Glen Davis, it is an easy run west to Rystone.

Photo: The railway would have come up the right-hand side of the valley. We are looking downstream from near the Tootie Creek junction, towards the U bend where trains from Sydney would first meet the river.

© Anthony Dunk 

Problems

• High construction cost due to the rugged terrain.
• Over 70km through country with no traffic generating potential. The region offers no commercially viable quantities of millable timber, minerals, or farming land.
• The gorge is prone to slides, although it would appear that the railway was to be in tunnels at the worst spots.
• The river can rise dramatically after rain - the line would have needed to be well up the side of the gorge.

Up the Grose

Around 25 years earlier, a survey team from the Royal Engineers had been sent on a similar mission up the Grose River. It turned into a fiasco. More info... 

More proposed railway routes... 

More stuff.....

Glen Davis to the outskirts of Sydney includes a 69km sandstone gorge with 150 rapids. Overnight rain can cause a 10m rise in river level, resulting in 69km of grade 6 rapids.

Townshend's team followed Little Wheeny Creek, before crossing "Lagoon Ridge" & Gospers Creek to meet the Colo River at the U bend downstream of Tootie Creek. 

George William Townshend worked at the Works Department before taking leave to work on his railway scheme. After the survey, stood for the Seat of Hawkesbury to push his scheme.⁵ 

Traces of the survey track can still be found on the southern/western side of the gorge. In places it is still in good condition, a metre wide, benched & tangled with lawyer vines.⁵ 

Sources 

Material from an online discussion, involving...

¹ Roger Caffin, bushwalker. 
² David Noble,  bushwalker.
³ David Bennetts, railway enthusiast. 
⁴  Anthony Dunk, Wollemi enthusiast & bushwalker.

References

• ⁵ Colo Wilderness, Prineas & Gold, Kaliana Press, 1978
• ⁶ Map of the County of Cook, Department of Lands, 1921, revised 1973