Old Sleeps Hill Tunnel on the teev.

2001 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 11:21 am

An alert to all interested in SA rail history that the old Sleeps Hill Tunnel will be featured on this Sunday's (18/5) edition of POSTCARDS on Channel Nine.

For those not aware, this was the original single-track tunnel that carried the Adelaide-Melbourne Line beneath Sleeps Hill. Presently, I believe some of the tunnel is being used as a wine cellar.

You'll have to tune in on Sunday at 5:30 PM to see and learn more ...

2001

Member Falls Creek 2018 Olympics Committee.

Michael1 · Beginner Joined: Nov 12, 2007 Last Visited: May 14, 2008

Last time I checked -- and this was only a few weeks ago -- it was used for the growing of mushrooms! Both ends of it are sealed shut in a rather crummy and haphazard fashion.

Pressman · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:27 pm

The "wine cellar" is the southern end of the first tunnel
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=sleeps+hill&sll=-52.268157,178.59375&sspn=77.503846,163.828125&ie=UTF8&ll=-35.006861,138.598902&spn=0.006213,0.009999&t=h&z=17
Entry from Gamma Crescent

Cheers,
Tony
Still drying out the falcoon after the now imfamous creek incident!http://tony33.fotopic.net

lustychant · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 12:50 pm

Doesnt someone live in or immediately next to the up side of the number one tunnel? I think this is the one with the wine cellar. I'm sure the number two tunnel still has mushrooms in it.

Which then brings me to ask a few quick questions.

Last time I visited (late '80's) there seemed to be formations present to suggest there were a number of lines serving the quarry (?) at that location between number one and two tunnels. Does anyone know anything about whether this was the case, whether this quarry was part of the Sleeps Hill group and if it was rail served did this continue after the opening of the Sleeps Hill deviation?

Lastly, are the tunnels owned freehold by the current users or are they still owned by the state government?

Pressman · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:02 pm

I believe the "Sleeps Hill" quarry was rail served with a 'tipping embankment' to load the rail wagons. But this quarry was on the east side of the line north of the present tunnel' northern portal.
Refering to the google link in my previous post the quarry can be seen east of Hogarth Rd (across the track)
There appears to be about 7 quarried areas in that small valley.
But then there also appears to be a few pits just south of the old #1 tunnel's southern portal.

I'm sure someone posted some pictures sometime last year. I'll see if I can find them

Cheers,
Tony
Still drying out the falcoon after the now imfamous creek incident!http://tony33.fotopic.net

Pressman · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:35 pm

nm39 · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:45 pm

According to my dad, one of the tunnels was used as a munitions store during WWII and a sentry was always on guard at the opening. You could see him standing there as you went past in the train.

Silly old Gordon, got stuck inna DITCH......

lustychant · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:54 pm

Thanks Pressman.

I didn't mean the Sleeps Hill quarry located next to the current BG loop, with the quarry line drifting to the Southeast (the well known quarry) nor the small quarry between the northern (Adelaide) side portals of the old number one and current tunnel's.

The quarry/excavation I'm talking about was located between the up (Southwest/Blackwood) side of number one tunnel and the down (North/Adelaide)side of number two, basically in the area where the access road (Gamma Cres.) finishes.

I haven't checked google earth so I don't know how visible this area is. Basically if you drew a straight line between the two 'inner' facing portals previously mentioned, the quarry was located in the area between that imaginary line and the old main line as it curved between the two tunnels.

I hope that all made sense Very Happy

Pressman · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 1:58 pm

There are two quarry excavations quite visible in the area you mean in the google link I posted lustychant

Cheers,
Tony
Still drying out the falcoon after the now imfamous creek incident!http://tony33.fotopic.net

lustychant · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 2:58 pm

kipioneer · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:35 pm

My grandparents lived in Springbank and when I was a kid we used to picnic in "Stone Crusher Gully" as we knew it and my grandfather and I would explore the old quarries and the old railway line right through the no 2 tunnel which could be walked through then - it wasn't straight rather it had a small curve at one end (the southern end I think).

From my memory the quarries at Sleeps Hill were:

The first of the quarries was just south of the present Lynton station where the Mitcham Council depot now is. The siding serving this ran parallel to the main line to the Sleeps Hill Quarry Junction.

Then came the railway quarries at Sleeps Hill. There were 3 or 4 tracks here with a substantial loading bins (the base is still there) served by a 2ft narrow guage railway running up the valley.

The quarry siding continued south through the next cutting and under a bridge then curved to the left into the next valley where there was a number of quarry faces including what appeared to be a narrow guage line to the upper quarry.

Immediately south of the old no 1 tunnel was a quarry that was a working quarry in my memory (around 50 years ago). There was a loading bin and a house. The line then entered a cutting and curved to the south east.

Further south the cutting opens up into a much wider area (still accessable - at the very top of Grandview Drive) then a bit further south east as the line straightened up, there was a quarry, but my feeling is that it was never served by the railway. In the late 1950's it was still a working quarry (or only very recently closed).

The no. 1 tunnel was always bricked up in my experience, but the doors were open one day and I have walked through it. It was empty. Perhaps a pallet or two, but otherwise empty.

If you are going to have a look just go up Goodwood Road, then left into Grandview Drive (which in those days was Goodwood Road), but please respect pivate property.

Neil - the KIPioneer
Hawthorn SA

David Peters · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 2:36 pm

If you have got a copy of 'Line Clear' by Reece Jennings there are old track diagrams that show most of these sidings. Schwerkolts Quarry (6 3/4 miles) and Sleep's Quarry (7 miles) where on their own track from Mitcham Station, these diagrams are dated Dec 12,1912 and are on page 21 of the book!

The other siding was called Brick Siding (9 3/4 miles) and was just outside the old number three tunnel between Eden and Blackwood, this is on page 22 of the above book!

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