Recent fire damage to the Wallangarra railway line

[Redrient]

I received an update with a preliminary assessment of damage to the QR Southern Line at a Southern Downs Steam Railway meeting this morning.

QR have apparently inspected almost the entire length of the line between Warwick and Wallangarra and the preliminary assessment is there is little to no damage on the section between Warwick and Stanthorpe, pending an inspection vehicle actually running over the tracks. This seems nothing short of miraculous given the ferocity of the fires that burned through the Dalveen, Silverwood and Cherry Gully areas.

The section between Stanthorpe and Wallangarra has been extensively damaged, particularly south of Ballandean, with four timber bridges damaged or destroyed and a massive loss of timber sleepers and associated damage. The several bridges in the area around Accommodation Creek were specifically noted. It's been well-publicised that the township of Wallangarra was saved by the efforts of rural firefighters this week, and this includes the heritage-listed station complex.

I'm obviously biased about the prioritisation of government funding in this region, but it would be a damned shame if a decision was made to not restore the line.

[ozbob]

^ thanks for that update.  I too hope the line is reinstated back to Wallangarra.

[Redrient]

I took a trip down to Wallangarra this morning to get a first-hand look at the damage to the railway line. I can confirm four timber bridges destroyed within the last 10km to Wallangarra, with at least one more damaged. The larger timber bridges closer to Wyberba/Lyra appear intact and beyond the limit of the where fires have burned through the corridor.

You cannot view this attachment.

[ozbob]

https://x.com/railbotforum/status/1721038605421052393?s=20

[ozbob]

https://x.com/ozbob13/status/1720911663531168036?s=20

C17 974 - Cab Ride from Stanthorpe to Wallangarra - Saturday 12th April 2014

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

Recent fire damage to the Wallangarra railway line 5th November 2023 Recent fires: the section between Stanthorpe and...

Posted by RAIL - Back On Track on Saturday, 4 November 2023

[Redrient]

As you might be able to see from the photo used for Facebook, some of those logs were still smoldering, even though it was raining this and it's been raining on and off on the granite belt since Friday.

The burned areas reach right to the edge of Wallangarra township, but in some positive news the heritage station building is untouched. The rural fire service did a truly incredible job.

I took a couple of photos of Ballandean and Wallangarra stations while out and about.

[achiruel]

I understand the historical signifigance of the line to Wallangarra, but I'm wondering, other than the occasional tourist train, does it see traffic? It would seem a lot of resources to put into a rather long tourist line if not.

[Redrient]

Southern Downs Steam Railway typically operates monthly trips to Stanthorpe and Wallangarra. Freight traffic is extremely rare on the Southern Line past Warwick. There is significant freight traffic on the South-West Line to Goondiwindi and Thallon.

The line appears undamaged as far as Ballandean. If the points and siding there were restored to operation, locomotive run-arounds could be performed there. Some of the best scenery on the trip though is in that last bit around Accommodation Creek between Wyberba and Wallangarra.

[ozbob]

~Lost & Found: Wallangarra Ordinance Depot Siding~ Location: Wallangarra Images: (C) RPSQI Due to the recent...

Posted by Railway Preservation Society Of Queensland Inc. on Saturday, 4 November 2023

[Redrient]

I saw those old tracks leading into the military depot while driving down Bald Mountain Rd. They still run quite far beyond the fence line into the depot and appear to have never been removed on the site.

[ozbob]

Detailed diagrams of the track layouts once at Wallangarra can be accessed

here > https://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/items/ITM3500147 if interested. 

Click on the ' View Digital Copy ' tab.

[Redrient]

In a piece of good news, SDSR's scheduled trip to Stanthorpe and Wallangarra is likely to go ahead this Saturday as far as Stanthorpe, with associated winery tours in the region. This means the fire that surged through Dalveen, Cherry Gully and Silverwood appears to have done little or no damage to that section of the line.

[ozbob]

Section Cars Australia - the last rail traffic to Wallangarra, for a while...

"On the 21st & 22nd of October 2023, Section Cars Australia operated a tour from the southern downs town of Warwick to the Queensland / New South Wales border town of Wallangarra.

On the Tuesday 31st of October bushfires raged through Wallangarra,
thankfully the town and railway station was spared but 4 railway timber bridges and the
timber road overbridge in Wallangarra were damaged.

Our tour was the last rail traffic over the line before the fire.
Hopefully the bridges will be rebuilt so heritage operators have the opportunity
to run tours over  this beautiful railway line once again.

The following is the drivers view footage of the line from Wyberba to Wallangarra.

Code Select Expand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2XM98U-nBw
[copy and paste the youtube link in your browser]

[ozbob]

Queensland Parliament

https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableOffice/questionsAnswers/2024/351-2024.pdf

Question on Notice
No. 351
Asked on 21 March 2024

MR J LISTER ASKED MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS AND MINISTER FOR
DIGITAL SERVICES (HON B MELLISH)

QUESTION:

With reference to the fire damage which occurred to the Wallangarra railway line during the
bushfires which occurred on 31 October 2023—
Will the Minister advise if Commonwealth funding has been sought to assist Queensland in the
cost of repairing the railway line damage under the declared disaster of 'Southern Queensland
fires: 8 September–7 November 2023', or any other disaster recovery arrangements?

ANSWER:

I thank the Member for Southern Downs for the question.

Queensland Rail has advised the line experienced significant damage, with four timber bridges
destroyed, more than 1000 sleepers requiring replacement, damage to an additional timber
bridge, and one road-over-rail bridge located at Bridge Link Drive, Wallangarra.
While the road-over-rail bridge is closed, a detour is in place and Queensland Rail has committed
to repairing and reopening this particular road-over-rail bridge at Bridge Link Drive, Wallangarra.
Repair works on this bridge are underway with expected completion in April 2024, pending
weather and construction conditions. At this time, this bridge is the only repair works being
completed on the Wallangarra line.

No Queensland Rail customer or freight services utilise this branch line. Queensland Rail advises
that the Wallangarra branch line is used one day a month by the Southern Downs Steam Railway
(SDSR) Association for steam train services.

Following the bushfires, Queensland Rail sought recovery funding from the Queensland
Reconstruction Authority (QRA). The QRA administers Disaster Relief Funding Arrangements
(DRFA) on behalf of the Commonwealth and State governments. Queensland Rail was advised
by the QRA that they are ineligible for DRFA, including for the repair of the Wallangarra branch
line.

Queensland Rail understands the Wallangarra branch line is important to steam train enthusiasts,
however work across the network needs to be prioritised to keep freight and people moving
throughout the state. As such, the line between Stanthorpe and Wallangarra will remain closed
while Queensland Rail continues to investigate options.

Queensland Rail remains committed to working with heritage partners to find alternative routes
for their train journeys. I am advised the SDSR Association still runs many other experience
services throughout the year from Warwick to Stanthorpe, Clifton, Darling Downs, Wheatvale,
Toolburra, Inglewood, Goondiwindi Roma, Dalby, Chinchilla and Toowoomba.

Queensland Rail has also been very supportive of heritage operations throughout the southern
and western downs. Queensland Rail has even leant the SDSR Association one of their heritage
steam locomotives, for well over 12 months now while its own steam locomotive undergoes major
repairs. Queensland Rail has also recently granted the SDSR Association use of the historic
Warwick station through a long-term, 'peppercorn' lease.

[achiruel]

Sounds like it's probably the end of the line (pun intended) for steam to Wallangarra.

[ozbob]

^ doesn't look promising. I am glad I managed to get to Wallangarra by steam a number of years ago now.

Really interesting line, surprisingly in good condition (apart from the recent fire damage). 

[Redrient]

It does not look promising indeed. Informally I've heard numbers of around 19 million to replace the bridges.

Not for further public distribution, but SDSR have approached some engineering firms about what it might cost to replace them with culverts, and it seems the numbers QR are putting up are extremely high (let's say 4-5 million vs the 19 million they say).

Not to mention, in its current state, turnback facilities are inadequate at Stanthorpe for a permanent solution with the ban on long end leading, and there have been discussions around installing a turntable at Stanthorpe. There is no pre-existing pit at Stanthorpe, so imagine what that would cost. And the line is perfectly serviceable as far as Ballandean, so it would be a blow to arbitrarily decide it needs to be truncated to Stanthorpe, or worse (if a turntable turns out to be very pricey), closing the line from Warwick in its entirety.

For all the politics going on (which I don't want to get into discussing) I do acknowledge Mr Lister is an outspoken advocate for our organisation. And I do acknowledge QR leased us C17 974 for an extended period (not for free though!).

[HappyTrainGuy]

If they start building new stuff then you really know the line is in trouble

[ozbob]

BRIDGE LINK DRIVE BRIDGE OPEN // The Wallangarra community has welcomed the reopening of the township's key bridge on...

Posted by Southern Downs Regional Council on Monday 22 April 2024