Swan View Tunnel: John Forrest NP |
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The Swan View Tunnel, in John Forrest National Park, is a reminder of when the rail link to the rest of Australia once passed that way. It is the only railway tunnel ever constructed in Western Australia and is now part of the John Forrest Heritage Trail, which runs through the park. Originally declared as a conservation reserve in 1898, John Forrest National Park has the distinction of being Western Australia's first national park. Straddling the Darling Range, the park is set in jarrah forest that is still largely in its natural state. In late winter and spring, wildflowers are profuse and colourful, displaying the wide variety of plants that inhabit the northern jarrah forest. Having long attracted visitors, the park also has an interesting history. According to Aboriginal people, the snake-like waugal crawled across the land, leaving streams and waterways in its wake, and thence created Jane Brook. The rocks in, and along, the streams are said to be the droppings of this wondrous creature. Surrounding the centrally-located tea rooms are rock gardens, built by sustenance workers during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The gardens lead down to Jane Brook, which has been dammed to created a pleasant pool. And a historic railway tunnel still survives intact from the days when all east-west rail traffic passed through the park. ConstructionThe original railway line, built in 1884 and which ran from Midland to Mundaring, was so steep (up to 1:25) that trains had to have locomotives pushing from behind, as well as pulling from in front, to get them to the top. This caused a number of accidents and problems, and an easier route was chosen (at a grade of 1:44) to follow Jane Brook. It was incorrectly named the Mahogany Creek Deviation. The man in charge of the project to build the new line and tunnel in 1893 was the great Charles Yelverton O'Connor - the then Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia's Government Railways. C Y O'Connor later gained fame for designing Fremantle Harbour and the Eastern Goldfields Water Supply. The surveying was carried out by John Talbot Burnett. The contract to build the tunnel was won by the South Australian firm Smeaton and Hedges, and work began in 1894. In all, five bridges, six short cuttings and a tunnel had to be built to lay the new line. Four of the bridges and the tunnel lie within John Forrest National Park and are heritage protected. The work was hard. Workmen lived in tents near the tunnel. The rock was unstable ancient granite that had to be blasted and shored up on the embankments. The 340-metre-long tunnel had to be lined with masonry walls and an arched brick roof to stop rock falls. The work was scheduled for completion within 12 months, but unexpected difficulties in constructing the tunnel (which had to be cut through solid rock), wet weather and other problems (including a short strike by horse drivers for an extra shilling on Sundays) helped to slow the project down. The tunnel was completed in 1895 at a cost of about £12,000. Accidents and Incidents
Being an engine driver at the turn of the century was very different to now, and shortly after the opening of the new line in 1896, engine crews began complaining about problems being experienced while passing through the tunnel. The locomotive cab was open and this, combined with poor ventilation within the tunnel, meant that drivers and firemen were engulfed in smoke and fumes from the locomotives as they slowly inched their way through the tunnel, pulling heavy loads. Train crews found the summer months best for passing through the tunnel, as the strong easterly winds - common to the area at that time of year - blew the smoke and steam past the cab in the opposite direction to their travel. The first serious accident occurred in 1903, when a driver fell from the engine after being overcome by asphyxiating fumes. The fireman heard the bump, but in the darkness and belching smoke, paid no attention to the sound. It wasn't until the engine reached daylight at the other end, that the driver's absence was noticed. The fireman stopped the train and searched the tunnel. Fortunately, his unconscious partner had fortunately fallen clear of the wheels and sustained only minor injuries. The worst accident took place on November 4, 1942. A double-headed goods train, pulling a load of some 431 tonnes (just 14 tonnes short of its maximum allowable load), entered the tunnel at walking pace. The locomotive crews were quickly overcome by heat and fumes and rendered unconscious. The driver of one of the engines had managed to shut off power before he passed out, but the driver of the second engine was overcome before he could do likewise. He died on his engine in the tunnel. The train started to roll back, which caused the engine still on power to slip into reverse, and the train began powering backwards. The guard had already alighted and applied the handbrakes (although not the vacuum brake, as he thought the driver would quickly regain control) on the wagons. However, the engine crews were in no condition to regain control and the train careered through Swan View Station at an estimated 70 to 80 kilometres per hour. The runaway train went into a runaway dead-end which had been constructed in case of such an incident. The rear portion of the train piled up in a mass of wreckage, which fortunately had a cushioning effect and saved the three unconscious men from serious injury. Following this accident, locomotive loads, levels and configurations were changed, but tunnel ventilation still proved difficult to overcome, and it was decided to build a tunnel bypass on the northern side. This was completed in November 1945 at a cost of about £150,000 ($300,000) and the tunnel was then only used by trains moving downhill. The last work on the tunnel was done in 1956, when the track was lowered by 30 centimetres to allow passage of the bigger locomotives in use at the time, and to correct drainage problems. The Last TrainThe Mahogany Creek line, from Midland to Northam, continued to be used until the Avon Valley dual gauge railway came into full operation. The line closed on February 13, 1966. Although the trains are now long gone, the old railway alignment remains, clearly delineated by the embankments and bridges. Park visitors can follow the path of the old railway, which forms the basis of the John Forrest Heritage Trail, and walk through the tunnel. George Duxbury Tunnel Facts:
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