Rack & Pinion Steam Railway - Queenstown, Tasmania

 This Wilderness Railway is the Perfect Way to Access Scenic Views of Tasmanias West Coast. 

 

 

 It's a reconstruction of the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company railway between Queenstown and Regatta Point.

 

The new terminus in Queenstown is on the site of the original station yard. The station at Regatta Point terminus has been renovated..

 

tHIS is the only operating rack and pinion section in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

 The railway was the only way to get copper from the mine at Queenstown . Until 1932, when a Hobart road link was completed, it was the only access through to Queenstown...

 

rack-and-pinion railway ARE also known as cog railways, or cogwheel railways.

 

 The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with the rack rail.

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_England_Fall_Color_Tour_Oct._2012_187.JPG#/media/File:New_England_Fall_Color_Tour_Oct._2012_187.JPG
 

 

The steepest gradient on the rack section was 1 in 12 (8.33%).

 

The railway ceased operation on 10 August 1963 due to increasing maintenance costs and the improvement of road access to the West Coast from the north..

 

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