Following part of the Molong Dubbo line

[faulcon1]

Last weekend I went out west to Molong and followed a small part the old disused Molong to Dubbo railway line. Passenger services ceased on the line in 1974 and the Molong-Dubbo section was completely shut in 1993. Like other disused railway lines in NSW the railway line is still there and farmers have now erected fences over the line. To walk it would not be a good idea as the grass is long and may hide snakes. Other parts of the line are difficult to follow being a long way from a road which out there is dirt. The line originally went from Orange to Dubbo via Molong and the Orange to Molong section is still in use but only for rolling stock storage. It forms a very long siding. The Molong to Dubbo Railway line was built to mainline standards due to a huge miscalculation. It was thought at the time that Australia would mirror the USA and have many inland cities, but the country is often just too dry to support large populations and so many railway lines were built but never carried the amount of traffic that was hoped for. Also unlike the USA which has many private railway companies New South Wales's first railway between Sydney and Parammatta was built by a private company but they went broke before completing it. So the government of NSW took over and completed the railway and that government has owned the lines ever since. Like the UK we now have private companies on our railways but unlike the UK mostly on the freight side. Nearly all passenger trains are still state owned and operated. 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by faulcon1