Tahmoor Colliery is located about 70 kilometres south west of Sydney in the Southern Highlands Region, and consists of an underground mine, a coal preparation plant and coal handling and loading facilities.
The mine was originally established by Clutha Coal in 1978 and coal production started in 1982. Since then it has changed hands several times and is now owned by Xstrata. It produces high quality coking coal, most of which today is exported overseas from Port Kembla. To achieve movement of coal to the port, rail transportation is used and in the 1994-2000 period consisted of 32 or later 33 wagon NHSH type coal wagon rakes run with 81 and/or 82 class in push-pull configuration because the entry to the Tahmoor Colliery faces in the ‘down’ direction on the Main South Line. This occurred because early Tahmoor coal trains operated to Rozelle and White Bay in Sydney via Campbelltown.
In this presentation we will trace Tahmoor Coal train operations, empty from Port Kembla to Tahmoor via Moss Vale and full on the return journey. Locomotives seen in action include a 10 class South Maitland Railways steamer on load to ‘3801 Limited’, and 48, 81, 82, D and NR class diesel-electrics in the liveries of Freight Corp, BHP and National Rail.
Approximate run time: 94 minutes.