NO time has been wasted in starting the restoration of part of a branch railway line in the Bathurst region.
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A contract was signed in Bathurst last month to bring the almost six kilometre line from Oberon to Hazelgrove back to life and work has since started.
It is part of the longer line from Oberon to Tarana.
The rebuild is being funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Government and the work is being carried out by Dubbo company Complete Asset Management with assistance from volunteers from the Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway (OTHR).
"Starting from the Hazelgrove end, the rebuild will move south to Oberon," OTHR secretary Dave McMurray said.
"The work should be complete in about two months without weather or other hold-ups.
"Restoration of the end platform carriages and the locomotives continues unabated. It's planned that one carriage and one locomotive will be fit for service by the end of October."
Once resleepering and alignment of the track to Hazelgrove has been completed, the work will start on the level crossings, which must be capable of carrying heavy truck traffic.
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OTHR anticipates the railway will be a major tourist attraction once it's completed.
"OTHR was formed in 2006 with a vision of restoring the branch line and running a tourist train operation," the group's president Greg Bourne said at the signing of the contract in Bathurst last month.
"After much blood, sweat and tears by past and current volunteers, the vision is becoming a reality.
"The line was officially suspended in 1979 and, some 43 years later, it is about to come back to life."
