| Marrangaroo New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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  Marrangaroo | |||||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 33°26′0″S150°07′0″E / 33.43333°S 150.11667°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 909 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2790 [2] | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 1,200 m (3,937 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Lithgow | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Bathurst | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Calare | ||||||||||||||
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Marrangaroo is a village in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia in the City of Lithgow. The name is also applied to the surrounding area, for postal and statistical purposes.
Marrangaroo is located a few kilometres west of Lithgow. It is accessible from the Great Western Highway, and has no railway station and little bus services. Lithgow Buslines, run buses between Lithgow and Bathurst, which makes limited stops at Marrangaroo on the Great Western Highway. A main feature of Marrangaroo was the Trout Farm which was opposite the Lithgow Correctional Centre. At the 2016 census, Marrangaroo had a population of 909. [1]
The area in the north-east of the Marrangaroo bounded locality is now a part of the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. [3] [4]
Marrangaroo Army Camp situated at the end of Reserve Road used to be a major ammunition depot from 1941 to the late 1980s. It was served by a three kilometres siding that branched off from the Main Western railway line from March 1942 until May 1988. [5] It is now used for demolitions and various training by all three Australian Defence Force services. During World War II, a "town" was constructed nearby named Hokesville that was in fact a decoy for an RAAF chemical weapons storage site. Marrangaroo was the administration headquarters for all of the Royal Australian Air Force Chemical Weapon Stores. These were located at the Hokesville site (old tunnel and siding near correctional centre), Glenbrook Tunnel, Clarence Tunnel (that is now part of the Lithgow Zig Zag) and Picton tunnel in Sydney's south. [6]
During an interview with Plunkett in 2005, chemical warfare armourer, Geoff Burn mentioned he had been involved in the burial of 110-kilogram (250 lb) phosgene bombs near the entrance to the headquarters in 1943. He was subsequently recalled from Cairns in 1944 to identify the site but was unsure as to whether and if the bombs had been extracted. After Burn marked the site on an aerial map a ground search revealed they were still there. The legacy of these weapons remains with several hundred empty chemical munition containers being found buried at Marrangaroo Army Camp from May 2008 to February 2009. [7] [8]
A remediation project to remove heavy metal contamination started in November 2008 with a secondary task to remove any more buried chemical munitions. The revelation of Marrangaroo's history sparked significant local media interest. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] The Department of Defence established a website for community consultation and feedback on the decontamination. [16]
A railway station opened at Marrangaroo on the Main Western line in 1878 and closed in 1974. Little trace of it remains. [17] Also, it has been suggested as the western terminus for the proposed Bells Line Expressway; however, it is unlikely to proceed. [18]
| Preceding station | Former Services | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallerawang towards Bourke | Main Western Line | Bowenfels towards Sydney | ||
During the 1870s, there was an oil shale mine at 'Bathgate', probably named after Bathgate, in Scotland, which was the site of a shale oil industry. 'Bathgate' lay on Dr Mackenzie's property, about a mile from the Main Western railway line at the point where it passed through the original Marrangaroo tunnel. [19] [20] [21] [22] The operation at 'Bathgate' was ultimately unsuccessful, although more oil shale was discovered, about a mile away, in 1888. [23]
During the calendar years 1943 to 1945 inclusive, Lithgow Oil Proprietary Ltd, at Marrangaroo, produced around 2,000,000 gallons of crude shale oil. Under wartime conditions, that company had designed and constructed its own NTU retorts based on information from a Bureau of Mines publication. The crude shale oil was refined at the Glen Davis Shale Oil Works. [24] [25] The Marrangaroo oil shale deposit was small but exceptionally rich, assaying 237 US gallons per long ton. [24]
Marrangaroo has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Lithgow is a town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the administrative centre of the City of Lithgow local government area. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of William Lithgow, the first Auditor-General of New South Wales.
The Glowworm Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel between Lithgow, New South Wales and Newnes, New South Wales, Australia. It is notable for its resident glow-worms, the bioluminescent larvae of Arachnocampa richardsae, a type of fungus gnat.
Glen Davis is a village in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The village is located in the local government area of the City of Lithgow. It is located 250 km north-west of Sydney and approximately 80 kilometres north of Lithgow. The name is also applied to the surrounding area, for postal and statistical purposes. In the 2006 census, Glen Davis had a population of 354 but this fell to 115 in the 2016 census, and declined still further to 106 at the 2021 census.
Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland.
The Main Western Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Blue Mountains, and Central West regions. It is 825 kilometres (513 mi) long, of which 484 kilometres (301 mi) is currently operational.
The City of Lithgow is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Great Western Highway and the Main Western railway line.
The Newnes railway line is a closed and dismantled railway line in New South Wales, Australia. The line ran for 32 mi (51 km) from the Main Western line to the township of Newnes. Along the way, it passed through a tunnel now known as the Glowworm Tunnel, because it is famous for its glow-worms. The tunnel is now contained within the Wollemi National Park.
The Lithgow Zig Zag is a heritage-listed former zig zag railway line built near Lithgow on the Great Western Line of New South Wales in Australia. The zig zag line operated between 1869 and 1910, to overcome an otherwise insurmountable climb and descent on the western side of the Blue Mountains. It was designed by John Whitton and built from 1863 to 1869 by Patrick Higgins as contractor. It is also known as the Great Zig Zag Railway and Reserves and Zig Zag Railway. The property is owned by Department of Planning and Infrastructure. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Hartley Vale is a small village in the Blue Mountains area of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately 150 kilometres west of Sydney and 12 kilometres south-east of Lithgow. It is in the local government area of the City of Lithgow.
Wallerawang is a small township in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) northwest of Lithgow adjacent to the Great Western Highway. It is also located on the Main Western railway line at the junction of the Gwabegar line. The name is also applied to the surrounding area for postal and statistical purposes.
Kerosene Vale is a historic locality within the City of Lithgow Local Government Area of New South Wales, Australia. Kerosene Vale lies near Lidsdale and Wallerawang. It is considered part of Lidsdale for census purposes. It should not be confused with Hartley Vale, another locality with a history of shale oil production, which is also within the City of Lithgow. The name Kerosene Vale is now only used infrequently.
There are oil shale deposits in Australia which range from small deposits to large reserves. Deposits, varying by their age and origin, are located in about a third of eastern Australia. In 2012, the demonstrated oil shale reserves were estimated at 58 billion tonnes. The easiest to recover deposits are located in Queensland.
The Glen Davis Shale Oil Works was a shale oil extraction plant, in the Capertee Valley, at Glen Davis, New South Wales, Australia, which operated from 1940 until 1952. It was the last oil-shale operation in Australia, until the Stuart Oil Shale Project in the late 1990s. For the period of 1965–1952, it provided one fifth of the shale oil produced in Australia.
The Glenbrook Tunnel is a heritage-listed single-track former railway tunnel and mustard gas storage facility and previously a mushroom farm located on the former Main Western Line at the Great Western Highway, Glenbrook, in the City of Blue Mountains local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The Department of Railways designed the tunnel and built it from 1891 to 1892. It is also known as Lapstone Hill tunnel and Former Glenbrook Railway and World War II Mustard Gas Storage Tunnel. The property is owned by Blue Mountains City Council and Land and Property Management Authority, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 August 2011. The railway tunnel was originally part of the Glenbrook 1892 single-track deviation, which bypassed the Lapstone Zig Zag across the Blue Mountains. It is 634 metres; 693 yards long and is constructed in an 'S' shape with a gradient of 1:33.
The Marrangaroo railway viaduct is a heritage-listed railway viaduct that carries the Main Western Line across Marrangaroo Creek at Marrangaroo in the City of Lithgow local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The property added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Torbane was a privately-owned village lying within the area now known as Capertee, in the Local Government Area of the City of Lithgow, within the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. There was also another village, Airly, nearby. Both villages were associated with the mining of oil shale. The mine associated with Torbane was known as the New Hartley Mine. and that associated with Airly was known as the Genowlan Mine. There were retorts that produced crude shale oil at Torbane. Both Torbane and Airly are now ghost towns.
Australian Kerosene Oil Company or 'A.K.O' mined and processed oil shale to produce kerosene, paraffin wax and candles, lubricating oil and greases, and other petroleum-based products, in New South Wales Australia. It is particularly associated with the site of its mine and works, at Joadja. At times, it also had other mining operations, at Airly and near Katoomba, and a soap and candle factory at Camellia. The company used the brand name 'Southern Cross' for its kerosene products.
Lidsdale is a locality within the City of Lithgow Local Government Area of New South Wales, Australia. It lies to the north of Wallerawang. Its area, as defined for postal and statistical purposes, includes the historic locality of Kerosene Vale and the small rural areas known as Springvale and Angus Place. In 2021, its population was 471.
Hokesville was a fake town in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia built during World War II as camouflage for a RAAF weapons storage site. It had no actual residents as such but was regularly attended by a "floating population" of Australian military servicemen during the war. The official name for the Hokesville base in reality was No. 1 Central Reserve and Army Ordnance.
Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence .Media in Wikimedia Commons under Category: Marrangaroo, New South Wales
