West Coast Wilderness Railway

This Mount Lyell Abt Railway was originally opened in 1899 to transport ore from the Mount Lyell copper mine at Queenstown to the port at Strahan. It runs through very rugged country and has steep sections. The Abt system of rack traction was adopted. After a road was built to convey ore traffic the railway was closed down in 1963. In 2002 it was restored to operation involving major reconstruction, particularly of the bridges. Three of the original ABT locomotives have been restored and are now used on the re-opened tourist railway which is now known as the West Coast Wilderness Railway.

West Coast Wilderness Railway, Working hard on the rack
Source: WCWR

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Mount Lyell ABT Railway. Freight train, date not known
Source: Unknown

Section of ABT rack - the design was one of the most successful rack systems
Source: Unknown

Engineering Heritage Recognition Program

Marker Type	Engineering Heritage International Marker (EHIM)
Award Date	May 2016
Nomination Document	Nomination document - Volume 1 Nomination document - Volume 2
Ceremony Report	Ceremony report
Interpretation Panels	Queenstown station interpretation panel Strahan station interpretation panel