Swan View Tunnel Explained

Swan View Tunnel
Location:Swan View, Western Australia
Status:Converted to rail trail
Opened:22 February 1895
Closed:13 February 1966
Owner:Department of Parks & Wildlife
Operator:Western Australian Government Railways
Linelength:340 metres
Notrack:1

The Swan View Tunnel is a former railway tunnel located on the southern side of the Jane Brook valley in the outer Perth suburb of Swan View in the John Forrest National Park on the edge of the Darling Scarp. After its closure as a railway tunnel, it reopened as part of the John Forrest Heritage Trail, a rail trail.

Prior to the construction of tunnels and the sinking of the Subiaco railway station in 1999, the Swan View Tunnel was the only tunnel on the Western Australian railway network.

Construction

Swan View Tunnel was built on an alignment which replaced the original Eastern Railway passing through Smiths Mill, (now Glen Forrest), and Mundaring. The project to build the new line, including the Swan View Tunnel, was managed by the Western Australian Government Railways Engineer-in-Chief, O'Connor.

The tunnel was erroneously stated in contemporary reporting to be 13 chains long, which is NaNm (-2,147,483,648feet).[1] Modern authorities give the length as 340m (1,120feet).[2] Inspection of open source aerial imagery confirms that the tunnel is in length.

Work began in 1894, with the two bores meeting on 18 April 1895.[3] The tunnel opened on 22 February 1896.[4] [5] The unstable nature of the jointed granite, along with clay seams, caused difficulties during construction of the tunnel. A masonry-lined face prevented rock falls, but reduced the inner diameter.

The deviation from the original railway line, and the tunnel in particular, was a "significant technical feat for the time"; Engineers Australia awarded the deviation an Engineering Heritage Marker as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program.[6]

Problems

The tunnel's small diameter combined with the steep gradient (1:49) caused smoke accumulation. Incidents involving near-asphyxiation of train crews started in 1896, and continued throughout the tunnel's operating life.[7] [8] [9] The first serious incident of this nature was in 1903.[10]

The tunnel's design was incompatible with the ASG class Garratt steam locomotives used by the Western Australian Government Railways in the 1940s. The subsequent Royal Commission into the ASG dealt with design of the locomotive, and the very dangerous clearances.[11] [12]

The worst accident in the tunnel was on 5 November 1942, when both drivers and firemen were overcome by carbon monoxide, one driver dying, when a fully laden double-header train passed through the tunnel at walking pace.[13] [14] [15] Further cases occurred in 1943[16] and 1944 on up trains.[17]

Subsequent industrial strikes, a Royal Commission and union agitation for the locomotives' withdrawal was a significant issue in the 1940s.

Deviation

Between 1934 and 1945, a signal cabin was located at Tunnel Junction, on the eastern end of the tunnel, for managing the transition from the tunnel's single line to the dual lines of the system.[18]

The single line tunnel was considered unsafe for eastbound (climbing) trains,[19] [20] and a diversion was added on the northern side of the hill that the tunnel passed through.

It was known as the deviation, and due to rock instability included a fence of 16 wires to be used as a detector of rock falls.[5] [21] The diversion was completed on 25 November 1945.[22]

Railway closure

The railway line through the tunnel was lifted after the closing of the older and steeper Eastern Railway and the opening of the Avon Valley diversion that opened in February 1966.

After the 1960s, gates/doors were put at either end of the tunnel though these were later removed.[23]

The tunnel remains intact and has reopened as part of the John Forrest Heritage Trail, part of the larger Railway Reserve Heritage Trail.[24] During the 1990s, the government authority in which the tunnel land was vested, the Department of Environment and Conservation allowed a number of night time "ghost walks" in the tunnel as part of the Hills Forest programmes.

References

Bibliography

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Our Illustrations. The Only Railway Tunnel in the State . Western Mail . 23 May 1903 .
  2. Web site: inHerit - State Heritage Office.
  3. Book: Higham. Geoffrey. Marble Bar to Mandurah: A history of passenger rail services in Western Australia. 2007. Rail Heritage WA. Bassendean. 978-0-9803922-0-3. 22.
  4. Book: Bayley. William. Tunnels on Australian Railways. 1974. Austrail Publications. Bulli. 0-909597-16-2. 37–38.
  5. http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/PrintSingleRecord/3876ec46-d6d0-4737-815d-09fab888c676 Eastern Railway Deviation
  6. Web site: Eastern Railway Deviation. Engineers Australia. 2020-04-27.
  7. Tobin, Jack 1962 "The Swan View Tunnel" The Westland September 1999 p.7-11
  8. News: SWAN VIEW TUNNEL. . . 1781 . Western Australia . 24 December 1942 . 20 January 2019 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  9. News: Swan View Tunnel . . 1785 . Western Australia . 22 January 1943 . 20 January 2019 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  10. Swan Express 2 October 1909 p.3a, 4a. Articles on ventilation problems in the tunnel
  11. News: GARRATT ENGINES . . 79 . 267 . Queensland, Australia . 8 November 1945 . 20 January 2019 . 1 . National Library of Australia. – specifically unions requesting the commissioner to travel through the tunnel in an ASG to understand the context
  12. News: JUDGE TO RIDE ON GARRATT FOOTPLATE . . XXXII . 271 . New South Wales, Australia . 8 November 1945 . 20 January 2019 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  13. News: Engine Crew Collapse In Swan View Tunnel . . LXI . 21,159 . Western Australia . 27 January 1943 . 20 January 2019 . 5. HOME . National Library of Australia.
  14. News: Swan View Smash. 18 February 2015. The West Australian. 10 December 1942. Perth. 7.
  15. Duxbury, George (2001) Rail against time Landscope, Autumn 2001, p.37-40
  16. News: Swan View Tunnel. . . 16 . 1664 . Western Australia . 28 January 1943 . 20 January 2019 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  17. News: SWAN VIEW TUNNEL. . . 60 . 18,024 . Western Australia . 17 April 1944 . 20 January 2019 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
  18. News: Swan View Tunnel Deviation . . Perth . 7 December 1944 . 9 October 2012 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
  19. News: Swan View Tunnel Crisis. . . Perth . 26 February 1944 . 9 October 2012 . 8. Late Sports. National Library of Australia.
  20. News: Swan View Tunnel. . . Perth . 6 January 1943 . 9 October 2012 . 9. Home . National Library of Australia.
  21. News: Trains Go Round Swan View Tunnel. . . Perth . 26 November 1945 . 9 October 2012 . 7. City Final. National Library of Australia.
  22. WAGR Publicity (N.D.) Welcome to the Westland, Western Australian Government Railways Overnight Express and connecting link for interstate travel
  23. Ellis, David 1997 "Terror tunnel" South Western Times 8 April 1997 page 30
  24. http://www.mundaring.wa.gov.au/YourCommunity/RecreationAndLeisure/WalkingCycling%20Trails/Pages/RailwayReserveHeritageTrail.aspx Railway Reserve Heritage Trail