North Coast Line Pt3 reviews freight and passenger train operation in both the ‘up’ and ‘down’ directions on that section of track between Casino and Brisbane (including the Border Loop & Spiral), travelling north from Casino.
As covered in the presentations North Coast Line Pt1 & North Coast Line Pt2, it was possible to travel by rail from Sydney to South Grafton (now called Grafton City) by 1922. The Grafton to Old Casino section of track was completed as an extension of the Murwillumbah Line in 1905 but it would not be until 1932 that the missing link, the combined rail, road and pedestrian bridge across the Clarence River, was completed, linking South Grafton to Grafton and providing rail service all the way from Sydney to Casino.
While there existed a mixed gauge rail link from Sydney to Brisbane (standard gauge via the Main North to Wallangarra and then narrow gauge beyond Wallangarra to Brisbane), the completion of a direct standard gauge Sydney to Brisbane rail link progressed slowly and in three stages, firstly Casino North Junction to Kyogle in 1910 (actually an extension of the original Murwillumbah Line), secondly Kyogle to South Brisbane in 1930 and finally South Brisbane to Roma St station in 1986.
Included in this presentation is a brief look at what remains of the Murwillumbah Line in 2007, and a detailed coverage of Border Loop. From the Lions Road lookout, we view the passage of an 85 wagon triple headed intermodal goods train as it climbs the Border Loop spiral. We then visit the site of the former Border Loop and the current Border Tunnel.
Locomotives seen in this presentation include CLF, CLP, DL, NR, X, XPT, 2470, 2800, 421 and 48 Class in the liveries of Australian Railway Group, CountryLink, Freight Australia, Freight Corp, National Rail, Northern Rivers Railway, Pacific National, Queensland Rail and QR National.
Approximate run time: 84 minutes.