Kimbriki Loop

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Type : Loop
Line : North Coast Line
Distance from Sydney : 353.170km
Opened : 30 January 1934
Closed : February 1995
Status : Closed
Name meaning : Aboriginal for where a kind of water reed grows
Notes : Opened as a 402 metre central interlocked loop. a 4.8 metre platform was provided for employee use only on the Up side.

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Another Kimbriki picture, viewed from the North end on 8-3-1994. The loop was 402 metres long and was closed in February 1995. (Graeme Kirkby)



Wayne Brown:


Excuse my ignorance, but what was the rationale for closing loops? I presume length was a primary factor, with trains getting longer and thus fewer useful loops?


Muzza Deano:
Wayne Brown good question. I'd like to learn this too. I can see the rationale in your presumption of train length over loop length.




Alex Albans:


Decision was made to have more, longer loops than fewer, short loops.


Graeme Kirkby:
Yes, as previously noted. Once privatisation took on in the 1990s, there were far fewer freight/goods trains running and all were perhaps triple the length of this and many other loops. A few strategic loops were either lengthened or moved to a better site (such as Wallarobba ) and others that were deemed, not necessary, closed. Saved much money in maintenance.


Wayne Brown:
it begs the question; which led to which? Did short loops dictate the length of the trains, which led to more shorter trains, or did the available horsepower and grades dictate the length of the trains, and thus the length of the loops requ... See more


Graeme Kirkby
Garry, I feel the load/ maximum length on the 1 in 80 grades for the steam engines of the 1910s dictated the length of the loops required back then. But through the dieselisation era, certainly from 1960s with multiple-unit diesels capable of longer trains, the short loops started to be a nuisance and those men manning such loop sometimes had to be creative in crossing longer trains. By 1980s, any longer train may have been held back at a longer loop rather than being advanced to a short loop only to encounter another long train. The loops had to change to cater for the longer trains private companies now wished to run.


Steve Foster:
Garry Hayes horsepower and terrain back when the loops were built plus there wouldn't have been the demand for moving large amounts of freight with the population size and way of life back then would have been the reason more than likely.




Garry Hayes:
Graeme Kirkby I concur, having worked quite a few of the said short loops. As good as it was for employment of a lot of people, thankfully I never had to sort out a cross of 2 over length trains.


Alex Albans:
Let's not forget the short loops hamstrung the XPT, as the shortest train on the line, it would often be forced to wait in a short loops for a long freight train which had to stay on the main.


Shane Williams:
Was not a good place to make the loop longer as the line huge the side of the hill on the down side


Kim Andronicus:
The North Coast loops were built for/in the steam days, and what has been said above with the lengths of super freighters today. Hence quite a number of smaller loops have been closed since I have been working to Taree from 1994. Weismantels and Bulliac have been converted to follow on signals due to the lengths of the sections.


Greg Lee:
Very minor changes to the curve radii, at very great expense. They are "taken out" rather than "taken in", to increase the radius.


John Treuren:
Kim Andronicus story I heard - when Pacific Highway Hexham to Taree duplicated , a suggestion made to realign the NC railway alongside the new Highway. needless to say, that idea quicly knocked on the head. Idea may have merit - be straighter and shorter, and no steam era alignments like four horseshoe bends between Gloucester and Wingham to slow everything down.


John Caves:
Early diesel power was 1600 to 1800 and draw gear was lighter.
By the 90s it was 4000hp with stronger couplings.
Two of those locos meant much longer trains and therefore longer loops.
Shorter loops could handle one longer train if the other could be contained in the loop like a passenger service.

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Kimbriki, train NT-26 waiting in the Loop for NT-3 to pass. 8-12-1994. Kimbriki Crossing Loop closed in February 1995. (Graeme Kirkby)

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A view from the cab of the "Grafton XPT" in the Loop at Kimbriki and looking over the river flats to the South-east. 8-12-1994. (Graeme Kirkby)

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Railway Bridge at Kimbriki near Charity Creek . Probably taken not long after the section opened.

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XPT on Kimbriki bridge (Lou Northam)

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Location of the one-time loop at Kimbriki, it opened in 1930 (Six Maps)

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photo has been taken near Charity Creek, the Sydney bound train is crossing Rocky Falls creek, with the Manning river to the right. Just discernible in the distance is the signal box for Kimbriki crossing loop.

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Kimbriki box, undated (Robert Harris)

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Kimbriki is the location of a loop on the line that opened in 1930 (Records NSW)

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9/1/17. Taken from the road bridge on Kimbriki Road. (Ian Douglas)

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NSW 44226 N241 Kimbriki 09-09-1976 (Bob Richardson)

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The view from NT-25, "Grafton XPT" as it approaches Kimbriki crossing loop on 13-2-1995. Later this same month the Loop was closed and subsequently all signals and equipment were removed. (Graeme Kirkby)

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Kimriki, between 1954 and 1958 (Steve Deaman)

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3820 at Kimbriki 24-2-1974 en route to Taree (Jim Jarron)