Woy Woy tunnel was a massive undertaking

The main Northern Line between Sydney and Newcastle was constructed in two distinct stages and, in the earliest years, was worked as two separate railway systems.

The line between Strathfield junction and the Hawkesbury River was opened on April 5, 1887, with the terminus being on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River.

The line between Newcastle and the northern bank of the Hawkesbury River (near present day Wondabyne) was opened in January 1888.

A large sandstone ridge formed a natural barrier to railway construction and a lengthy tunnel through the ridge was required to allow construction of the railway line to continue towards the Hawkesbury River.

Woy Woy Railway Tunnel was built approximately 3.2km south of Woy Woy Railway Station.

Contractor George Blunt commenced work on the tunnel in March 1884.

The tunnel proved to be a massive undertaking and was then the longest in Australia, being 1.79km long.

It required 10,000,000 bricks which were drawn by a steam locomotive to the tunnel mouth where another crane unloaded them.

Even though explosives were used, the tunnel was dug laboriously, shovel by shovel, without the help of modern mechanical engineering aids.

The engineers started at both ends and missed the mean centre by only a few centimetres.

The spoil on the Woy Woy end was dumped on the mud flats on the route of the railway line and built the causeway from the site of the station to the bridge over Woy Woy Creek.

The spoil on the other end of the tunnel was dumped on the Wondabyne foreshores.

During construction, a tramway was built between Brisbane Water (at Woy Woy) and the site of the tunnel (4km) to convey materials which had been landed at Woy Woy by boat.

There was a 'navvy' camp near the Mullet Creek portal and there were never less than 600 men at work on the tunnel during the five years it took to build.

The settlement was clustered on the flat, at the foot of what is now known as Bull's Hill, and on the hillsides.

Most of the present day comforts were missing but there were very few restrictions such as taxes, closing times, and compulsory unionism.

However, on the job there was definitely no room for the loafer; men in the tunnel worked by candlelight.

The bricklayers building the inner wall of the tunnel packed the space between the brickwork and the excavated wall with rock.

Inspectors armed with canes constantly scrutinized the work and, if a space was left into which the point of a cane would enter, they would order it to be more tightly packed.

Hundreds of men fed at the eating houses which were log tents with wooden poles for seats.

To cater for the thirst of the workmen there were three hotels at the tunnel site, one on the flat, another near the tunnel mouth and one on top of Sugarloaf Hill.

There were two police constables and, except for a drunken row when one or two of the men could be chained to a log until they sobered, the police lived at peace with the men encamped.

An unusual aspect of the tunnel is that the Newcastle-end portal is more southerly than the south-end portal.

The tunnel was opened at a ceremony on July 17, 1886, some 18 months before the opening of the line to Mullet Creek.

The line was completed through between Sydney and Newcastle with the opening of the massive bridge over the Hawkesbury River in 1889.

Newsletter, 9 Jun 2013

Shirley Rider, Brisbane Water Historical Society