Heading inland from Sydney is akin to heading inland from San Francisco - coastal plain gives way to steep, forbidding mountain ranges which challenge the railroad builder in his quest for a way to transport the valuable mineral deposits of the mountains. The Zig Zag was one way the railway made its way west toward the mining communities around Lithgow, and on into the interior.
In more modern times, a new alignment with some impressive tunnels has made the old, long switchback road obsolete. It has been reborn as a tourist railway using the Ozzie narrow gage of 42". An impressive collection of equipment sits at the enginehouse at the bottom of the line where it joins with the New South Wales RR system. Diesel railcars run during the slower days of the week, and when I was there the steam motive power for weekend operation were a 2-8-2 tank engine and the beautiful light pacific CITY OF LITHGOW, a BB (Betty) class built in 1956.
I would like especially to thank Michael Forbes, and Gareth, Ray, and Sooty the enginehouse cat for making my day at Zig Zag one I will remember forever.
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