As related in a previous series, from 1879 the Australian Kerosene Oil & Mineral Company operated a private railway which linked its Joadja Creek oil-shale works with a depot alongside the main Southern Line at Mittagong. The company manufactured products for local and overseas use, flourishing until the early 1900s. 

Another private railway commenced in 1888. It transported coal from a mine opened in the Nattai Gorge, 6km northwest of Mittagong, to a junction with the main line. The Nattai enterprise became known as Box Vale Colliery in 1890. 

The colliery line operated for only eight years and was then dismantled.

From early days, various types and qualities of coal were found around the Mittagong district. By the 1880s, the expansion of railways across NSW and Victoria encouraged local enterprising individuals to capitalise on the increased demand for steaming coal. 

Steps to open a coal mine at the Nattai River gorge were first taken by the Mittagong Coal-mining Company which was registered on 19 December, 1883. Most of its capital was taken up by shareholders in Victoria where coal was scarce.

During 1883 the company acquired some 580 acres fronting the picturesque Nattai River. The Goulburn Herald reported that “about a dozen men have commenced work preparing the ground for the erection of a stationary engine and for the construction of an incline to the mouth of the pit.”

As a railway would be required to connect the mine with the main Southern Line, an approach was made to the NSW Government and in October 1884 the Mittagong Coal-mining Company Railway Act was passed.

John Hurley MP began seeking capital to construct the railway but it was not until 1887 that he raised the required $32,000, a considerable amount at the time. Due to the delay, an amended Act was passed in June 1887 and, under the supervision of an engineer named Mason, construction commenced. 

The colliery line was completed during 1888. Its rails were laid on squared sleepers, not just rough split logs as was the Joadja Railway. It was constructed to the standard gauge and specifications of the NSW Railways, so the Company could haul Government trucks out to the mine for loading. This saved it the cost of buying rolling stock and avoided transhipping costs at the railhead.

The railway commenced at a junction with the Southern Line (in its original single-track location) at a point one kilometre from Mittagong railway station, near the site of the present-day Caltex Service Station and close to the Joadja Railway depot.

These two private lines crossed each other in the vicinity of Lyell Street and then ran parallel across farmland to the Southern Road (now Old Hume Highway), close to the Wombeyan Caves Road.

It is said that the engine drivers could exchange handshakes at any point along this two-mile stretch as they ‘raced’ along, side by side. The clatter of the trains would have echoed around the quiet countryside and the township.

After crossing the Southern Road, the two lines parted company. The colliery line proceeded over Nattai Creek, veered eastward up a steadily rising grade, crossed a trestle bridge and then ran north-eastward through cuttings and embankments to enter an 84-metre tunnel, which led to a level site, high up on the hillside overlooking the Nattai River, where the line terminated. 

At that point the inclined tramway had been constructed down the precipitous escarpment to the mine entrance in the valley about 170 metres below. A winding engine brought coal skips, on the gravitation principle, up the incline. 

From 1888 the railway carried the Company’s coal to fulfil contracts awarded by the Railway Department. A peak daily output of 100 tons was achieved. 

The colliery initially prospered but, as will be explained in the next article, despite being taken over by new management in 1890 and renamed the Box Vale Colliery, quality and economic considerations forced it to close in 1896. The mining site would be abandoned and the rail line dismantled.