The Great Western Railway - the Whitton Legacy deals with Contracts 4 & 5 Clarence to Bowenfels and
John Whitton (1820, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England – 20 February 1898), an Anglo–Australian railway engineer, was the Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Railways, serving between 1856 and 1899, considered the Father of New South Wales Railways. Under his supervision, it is estimated that 2,171 miles (3,494 km) of railway around New South Wales and Victoria were completed. Whitton was r
esponsible for the construction of the Blue Mountains railway line and parts of the Main Western railway line, in particular the Great Zig Zag near Lithgow, and much of the Great Southern line. The Great Western Railway crossed the Blue Mountains between 1867 and 1869. The Blue Mountains were a significant geographical barrier to the development of western New South Wales, and the crossing required significant feats of engineering for the railways, including two 'Zig Zags': one for the ascent at Lapstone, and another for the western descent. The first "little" zigzag line opened near Glenbrook in 1867 as part of the ascent of Lapstone Hill on a gradient of 1 in 30-33. It was built with comparatively light earthwork, although it included a substantial seven-span sandstone viaduct (the Knapsack Viaduct) built by engineer, John Whitton. By 1910, the line was replaced with a gentler alignment with 1 in 60 (1.67%) grades. The line reached Wentworth Falls in 1867 and Mount Victoria in 1868. On the western descent from the Blue Mountains, the Lithgow Zig Zag was constructed between 1866 and 1869. It was laid out in the shape of a 'Z' including reversing points. It involved extremely heavy rock cuttings, three fine stone viaducts with 30-foot (9 m) semi-circular arches and a short tunnel. The Lithgow Zig Zag was replaced in 1910 by a deviation, which included ten tunnels. Once on the western foot of the Blue Mountains Bowenfels was reached in 1869, the line was promptly extended to Wallerawang by 1870, Tarana in 1872, Bathurst, Blayney in 1876 and Orange in 1877. This page will deal with the section of the Great Western Railway stretching from Newnes Junction to Wallerawang . This area contains one of the largest collections of stone bridges, station buildings and tunnels attributed to John Whitton.
