bethungra rail spiral

We experienced the spiral during the towns annual Flagship Festival, Junee Rhythm n Rail Festival (second weekend of the month). Celebrating Junees rail heritage, this is the perfect time to visit Junee and see what the town and its people have to offer!

This functioning portion of the railway is visible from the road about 30kms north of Junee however there is no official viewing area, tour or anything else to indicate that it is there. We only knew about it from the Roundhouse Museum and drove out there to kill some time in the morning before other attractions opened but really - don't make a special trip.

I travelled a number of times from Melbourne to sydney on the DaylightExpress when young and can remember the sight of the back of the train curling around a bend a level below the front.On a recent trip to Temora i found the spiraloff water works road but had to ask directions.The road to the best vantage point is dirt and slippery when wet, but for train buffs is extremely interesting,although madam thought i was bonkers.Try and go at the time the xpt or goods train comes past.

This is worthwhile to take the drive about 29 km's from Junee. There is a little petrol station / store when you get to Bethungra and they can direct you to the Water Works Road. It is a dirt road and drive careful, but there is one great vantage point 1/3 of the way up the road, to see the railway. It's different and enlightening again to see our railway history. If you go to the end of the road you will find a dam and a nice spot for a rest/break or to camp.

This is a fascinating engineering feature that interests non-rail enthusiasts. Being able to see the lines 'intersecting' from the top of the spiral is pretty cool.

Quiet open forest land, a car can be driven to the centreof it. One can easily tramp all over the hill of the spiral. The rough landscape is suitable for camping out.

This place is fascinating because the same rail lines can be seen to intersect at three places right on top of each other. It reminds me of the Tehachapi :Loop in California which requires several locomotives to get up the grade, even so.

I agree with the other reviewer in that this is not a tourist place as such but if you have an interest in railways then a visit to the Bethungra Rail Spiral (one of only 2 in NSW) is of interest. The spiral was built to allow the Sydney bound line to have a much easier gradient than the Melbourne line, allowing trains heading north to haul more tonnage. You might be lucky, very lucky, to see a Sydney bound train ascending the spiral which takes the track under the Melbourne line in a tunnel as it curves around 180 degrees to head back towards Melbourne. It continues to climb before another 180 degree turn to resume a northerly heading many feet higher on the hillside and above the Southbound line which was above it a few minutes before. From the Olympic highway, you can see the 3 tracks on the hillside above.You need to leave the Olympic Highway at the Bethungra Waterworks Road (about 500m from the northern end of town) and drive along the unmade road towards the top of the hill. No signs. No formal parking areas. Just keep an eye on the rail tracks in cuttings below. As mentioned this is not a formal tourist spot. There are no fences and deep cuttings to the track below where you can see the tunnel exit. Take care! Not recommended for young children. Please do not take any risks lest the authorities close off another interesting engineering construction.

It is one of the best enginerring built up. As i am a engineer and i was interested to see this place but unfortunately there were no views to see the entire Spiral way. I went on some dirt roads and view the spiral path. I never seen anywhere on the roads about the direction to reach this place. I am not sure this is a tourist place. If someone interested to see this place then go via Olympic Highway (Junee to Cootamundara) and take right run on Bethungra water works road (dirt road and this road will go to the Lake Bethungra). You will able to see the partial view of the Spiral and also you can visit Lake Bethungra as well.