When the railway from Penrith to Lithgow opened, most of the lights in homes were kerosene or oil lamps. Most of the kerosene was imported, however, some was obtained from kerosene shale mined at Hartley Vale in the Blue Mountains and Joadja in the Southern Highlands. Kerosene shale was also known to exist in the Wolgan Valley in the 1860's. The New South Wales Shale and Oil Company, working at Hartley Vale, arranged for explorations for other shale deposits. In 1887 samples were secured from the Capertee and Wolgan Valleys. The search for suitable transport routes begun.

In 1900, George Anderson began mining in the Wolgan Valley. At first wax was extracted for candle making and the then 'useless' benzene was burnt off. The products were hauled out of the valley by horse and cart to the railway at Wallerawang.

A Government geologist reported that the shale yielded a large percentage of oil. This impressed Sir George Newnes, a British industrialist and London book publisher. In 1905, Newnes formed a company and secured mining leases in the Wolgan Valley. The Company was the Commonwealth Oil Corporation (COC) of which Newnes became the chairman of the board of directors.

In 1906 the company chose to develop the Wolgan Valley. The COC bought the New South Wales Shale and Oil Company and the works and housing settlement in the Wolgan Valley were named Newnes to mark the achievement of the company's founder.

Exploration and surveys for the railway were carried out by J.H. Cardew and it was first thought that a line could start from the highest point on the main line, which had been deviated in 1897 to eliminate the steep run down from the eastern side of Dargan's Creek to cross it and climb again to Clarence near the tunnel. The proposed line would leave Dargan's, wind and twist for a few miles, follow the ridge due north. Rope haulage would raise and lower the trucks some 1200 feet to the valley floor, like at Joadja.

Subsequent surveys by G. Marshall located a route for the railway to descend into the valley. Henry Deane, retired chief engineer of the NSW Government Railways, decided in 1906 to use curves of 5 chains radius and grades of 1 in 25 on standard gauge rail. Four powerful shay engines were acquired to travel around the curves without great difficulty.

There were two tunnels on the single track line, the first 363 feet long and the second 1320 feet. Construction began in November 1906 and was completed in November 1907. The line was 32 miles from the main line and dropped 1760 feet to the valley floor. Passenger traffic began at the end of 1907, ceased in 1923 and the journey time was around three hours. Newnes Junction was the transfer point for the main line.

When the Zig Zag deviation was opened in 1910, Newnes Junction was moved down the hill to its present day location.

Strikes at the Newnes works began in 1909 and continued until 1912 when the works were closed and the workmen dismissed. In 1914, John Fell resurrected production in the valley. It shut down again in 1919. Work began again in 1920. In 1931 the government helped financially and the tourist trade was encouraged with round trip ticket being sold for Sydney to Newnes Junction - rail to Newnes, a coach back to Wallerawang and rail back to Sydney.

1932 saw the final failure. Rails were taken up. The Capertee valley was selected for its operations. Glen Davis became the works and transfer of the oil was accomplished by a pipeline over the mountain from Glen Davis to Newnes, along the abandoned railway track to Newnes Junction where large tanks received the oil which was despatched on railway wagons. All salvageable equipment was taken from Newnes in the 1950's.

Today, the first and second Newnes tunnels (the second is home to glow worms), the Newnes platform and remains of the works accessible by car and walking tracks. Tours to Newnes are run occasionally by the ARHS/NSW.

The stations/sidings/locations on the line were Newnes Junction (main line), Summit Loop, 12 Mile Siding, Deane Siding, Newnes No 1 Tunnel, Newnes No 2 Tunnel, Constance, Mt Wolgan Siding, Newnes platform and Newnes Oil Works.

Here are some other websites about Newnes: Glow worm tunnel, National Parks & Wildlife Service.

If you have any further information or photos, please email me.