ZIG ZAG RAILWAY
RAIL MOTORS
Blue Mountains, Australia

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High in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney Australia, there is a breathtaking topography of dizzying crags and cliffs through which the Zig Zag Railway line was built in 1869.  The line was built as a part of the opening of the fertile farm lands to the west of the mountains enabling their produce to be brought fresh and timely to Sydney on the Pacific Coast.  By the early years of the 20th Century, the line with its magnificent viaducts and tunnels was abandoned and soon overgrown by bush.  In the Second World War one of the tunnels was used as an ammunition depot.  The Zig Zag segment of the line opened as a tourist railway in 1975. From the line's highest point 3658 feet, at Clarence, it descends 687 feet to the valley below via viaducts and switchbacks.  The line has a variety of vintage rolling stock from around Australia, including steam trains, which run on weekends, and the quintessential  Queensland rail motors shown on this page.

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