Lapstone, NSW
5.0 km (2 hrs )
★★☆☆☆

Just 50 years after the first European crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813, construction of a railway began that would become the Main Western Line, eventually reaching all the way west to Broken Hill and beyond. Due to financial constraints, a tunnel at Glenbrook was not constructed until 1892, with the railway operating as a zig zag until then. Remains of the Lapstone Zig Zag can still be seen today and are well worth a visit.

On this walk, I explored the old Glenbrook Tunnel, which operated from 1892 to 1911, when it was replaced by a new diversion through Glenbrook Gorge. The walk took me along the former tramway line, used during the construction of the railway to several lookouts overlooking Glenbrook Gorge, as well as to the old Glenbrook Tunnel. The tunnel is in the process of being made ready to be opened to the public, but was still closed at the time of my visit. There are numerous tracks (mostly used by mountain bikes) at Lapstone, making the tunnel quite tricky to find, but using a GPS I was able to eventually find this, although not without some adventurous bush bashing!