Glenbrook Tunnel (1892)

rdf:langString Glenbrook Tunnel (1892)

rdf:langString Glenbrook Tunnel (1892)

rdf:langString Glenbrook Railway and World War Two Mustard Gas Storage Tunnel

rdf:langString Glenbrook Tunnel

rdf:langString April 1891

rdf:langString Entrance to the 1892 Glenbrook Tunnel

rdf:langString Mushroom Farm

rdf:langString December 1892

rdf:langString Tunnel Gully Reserve

rdf:langString Abandoned

rdf:langString The Glenbrook Tunnel is a heritage-listed single-track former railway tunnel and mustard gas storage facility and previously a mushroom farm located on the former Main Western Line (since deviated) at the Great Western Highway, Glenbrook, in the City of Blue Mountains local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The Department of Railways designed the tunnel and built it from 1891 to 1892. It is also known as Lapstone Hill tunnel and Former Glenbrook Railway and World War II Mustard Gas Storage Tunnel. The property is owned by Blue Mountains City Council and Land and Property Management Authority, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 August 2011. The railway tunnel was originally part of the Glenbrook 1892 single-track deviation, which bypassed the Lapstone Zig Zag across the Blue Mountains. It is 634 metres; 693 yards (31.5 chains) long and is constructed in an 'S' shape with a gradient of 1:33. The tunnel was built to the east of Glenbrook railway station and opened on 18 December 1892. Due to the steep gradient, seepage keeping the rails wet causing slippage, poor ventilation and planned duplication of the track, plans were drawn up to bypass the steep route. Trains commonly stalled in the tunnel for some time before having to back the locomotive out of the tunnel for another attempt. The tunnel was closed on 25 September 1913, and was utilised for growing mushrooms. In 1942, during World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) stockpiled bulk mustard gas stocks in preparation for a possible Japanese chemical weapons attack. The facility was known as No. 2 Sub Depot of and was vacated by the RAAF after the war. It features in the "Alcatraz Down Under" episode of Cities of the Underworld on the History Channel.

rdf:langString Passenger