Community sacrifice and hard work during a crisis meant that one of the state’s major commercial and freight rail corridors was reopened little more than a fortnight after it was damaged by a severe storm.
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Parts of the track on the North Coast Line were badly damaged at 49 locations north of Telarah during the Hunter super storm on April 21.
The ballast that supports the track was completely washed away by flash floods at the Oakhampton crossing and near Tocal College.
But the Australian Rail and Track Corporation had the line repaired and reopened for freight and passenger trains by May 9.
An ARTC spokesman said last week that two organisations had helped ensure the repairs were speedy.
Tocal chairman Dr Cameron Archer agreed to cancel the college’s major annual event, Field Days, just days before it was to begin, at the request of emergency services.
The major concern was damage to the concrete bridge at Mindaribba, which would have been a key access point for visitors to the event.
Cancellation of Tocal Field Days meant that ARTC repair crews could have unrestricted access to the damaged line to repair it.
The operating hours of Martins Creek Quarry had been the subject of controversy among residents in towns along the site’s freight corridor.
But quarry operator Daracon temporarily extended its work hours in the wake of the storm so it could supply enough rock to replace the ballast that had washed away at various points along the North Coast Line.
This meant more trucks were travelling to and from the quarry, but an ARTC spokesman said it was a major factor in helping to speed up repairs to the track.
