Round Mountain Quarry Siding

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Type : Siding
Line : North Coast Line
Distance from Sydney : 913.962km
Opened : 1930
Closed : 2 Dec 1976
Status : Closed
Name meaning : No primary reference
Notes: Ballast was quarried at this location for the Kyogle - Brisbane section. Dead end at 915.321km

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Location of Round Mountain

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Round Mountain (Jan 2023) (James Chuang)

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Peter Neve:

I know very little about the Round Mountain Quarry and its short loading siding north of the border. When I first saw mention of it, I was intrigued and vowed to check it out when in the area. Just on 40 years ago, in 1982, I had the opportunity as I headed north to photograph special trains on the former Churchill branch out of Ipswich.
Apparently the quarry dates back to the construction of the border railway from Kyogle into South Brisbane in 1930 and obviously would have provided ballast for the new line. Some followers of this Page may not be aware that the line south down to the Queensland/NSW border was initially constructed to the Queensland gauge of 3-ft 6-inches (1067mm) and once completed, one rail was moved out to standard gauge. There are photos of narrow gauge picnic/inspection trains operating towards Border Loop prior to the rail being moved outwards.
Which raises the question as to whether the Quarry siding was originally built to the narrow gauge! Certainly, if it was, it was subsequently regauged to standard so that it could continue to be used as required.
The Opening Circular for the line shows Round Mountain Quarry Siding junction to be located at 567m. 73ch., about midway between Glenapp at 551m. 44ch. and Bromelton platform at 575m. 14ch. The staff section was Glenapp (551m. 44ch. to Kagaru (583m. 7ch). Entry to the siding was by a grounds frame, opened by the miniature electric staff for the Glenapp-Kagaru section. The simple diagram shows a short branch line, facing to down or northbound trains, curving off to the right and ending with a short run round loop capable of holding 20 four-wheel wagons... No other details were provided as to how the siding should be shunted. Presumably, the quarry would be shunted by a south-bound train, possibly detaching the brake van on the man line then propelling empties into the quarry, returning with loaded wagons and coupling to the brake van before continuing towards Glenapp. The siding was not protected by any main line signals as it could only be accessed by a train with the token for the section.
When I took the attached photo in 1982, it was very apparent that the quarry had not been worked for some time and the siding was very much out of use.
For the standard gauge construction works south of the border, there was a short dead-end quarry siding at Mount Lion. Possibly the quarry was right next to the new line as the plan for the siding shows space for coal unloading, a boiler house and a crusher.
Obviously, more research is desirable for those more local than I am!
Bringing back past memories! 🧐

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Round Mountain, 24/12/2023 (Shane Morris)

[Goldilocks]

Round Mountain had a loop within the siding, trains would have been able the shunt the siding from either direction. I believe that the siding was used by the Army during the war