Up the Gorge

Following a preliminary survey in 1857, a group of Royal Engineers (army), under Sergeant Quodling, were given the 6 week assignment of constructing a bridle trail up the Grose River Gorge, from the Nepean River near Agnes Banks. The gorge was being considered as a possible route for the railway, a tunnel under the Darling Causeway to Hartley Vale being envisaged. It is interesting to consider how the mountains might have developed had this route been adopted.

Whilst Martindale probably envisaged little more than cutting a path through the scrub, the Engineers were out to build a real, permanent, track. They engaged in excavation, rock quarrying, tree felling & bridge construction. However, as time went by and pressure increased for results, the standard of construction declined.

Recon by Edwin Barton³ & Thomas Sherwood: Jan. 1858

Surveying had started by April.

Track construction probably started Nov 9, 1858

Construction from west ordered after Martindale visited the lower Grose in late January 1859, probably commenced in April.

 The tunnel beneath Darling Causeway would have been two miles long, used ten million bricks, taken two years to build and cost £800,000. The colony did not have enough bricklayers. Other  problems with the route included landslides & very sharp curves; the route was eventually abandoned in 1860.

The group of Royal Engineers, under the command of Sergeant Quodling, consisted of 10 surveyors and 49 labourers. Possibly, some of these were convicts.

Bureaucracy being what it is......

They built a very fine track, with extensive rock works.

After more than 18 months.....

Some time ago a survey of the Grose was appointed .....after an expenditure of over £20,000 .....reported to be impracticable! Can it possibly be true? It is true .....that those who ought to be held responsible to the country in this matter, suffered the survey to proceed; until the above named sum was expended, without ever once seeing the line themselves. Surely if either Captain Martindale or Mr Whitton had made a general inspection of the proposed line of survey, supposing them to have a knowledge of their preferred business, they must have known from a comparative glance that it was impracticable.
Letter to a newspaper.

A botanist, Louisa Atkinson, used the track and wrote about it in "Ranges of the Grose", part of her "A Voice from the Country" series published in the Sydney Morning Herald in the early 1860's. Her party found many sections already washed away by flood. Indeed, major flooding occurred within weeks of the Engineers pulling out, wiping out many road & rail bridges in the Sydney region.

Photo © David Martin 1997

Use

Scientists, Artists, Prospectors

• Louisa Atkinson, 1861
• Rev. W.B. Clark, geologist, early 1860's
• Du Faur Expedition, 1875
• Mackenzie brothers, oil shale prospectors, 1865-66
• Charlie Diews & companion, 1911
• Ernest Williamson & Martin Zobel, prospectors, 1925

Bushwalkers

• Oscar Reinits, 1900
• Harry Whitehouse, 1916
• Sydney Bushwalking Club, 1936
• Alex Coley, 1957

Search Parties for

• Loften, 1895
• Barton brothers, 1900
• 4 young men, 1936
• And at least 11 other searches between 1936 & 1976

Official

• 'Commission of Enquiry into the Supply of Water to Sydney & Suburbs', 1868
• Metropolitan Water Sewerage & Drainage Board engineers, 1925

The Track Today

Where the track ran beside the river, it has long since been washed away. But in many places, it climbed above the flood level. Here, the hand-made stone embankments are still in place.

A map believed to date from the 1930's (Department of Lands) shows a "trail, negotiable route or doubtful track" from Yarramundi to Blue Gum Forest.

The latest topographic map shows an "Engineer's Track" descending from the Darling Causeway into the gorge below, but no further. There is also a track from Victoria falls to the Blue Gum Forest. The maps in Andy Macqueen's book (see  below) indicate the track & its condition.

Macqueen divides the track condition into 'fair', 'poor' & 'little trace', with the fair & poor sections accounting for 55% of the 61km.

There is no longer any continuous track up the gorge. Hiking from the Blue Gum Forest to Yarramundi should only be undertaken by experienced bushwalkers, with current local knowledge. (It is rumoured that one very experienced person ran the route in a day!)

We would welcome first-hand information and photos from bushwalkers who have explored the Engineer's Track. Please E-mail us.

Restoration? The future...

• 1965: NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs lobbied for reopening.
• 1977: Blue Mountains National Park Advisory Committee suggested the track be listed on the register of the National Estate & be restored.
• 1985: Listed by NPWS on its Historic Places Register.
• One prominent bushwalker, & former member of the Blue Mountains National Park Advisory Committee, claims that over 90% of the Engineers Track is 'obvious' & capable of restoration. 

What will become of the Engineer's Track? The cost of re-building the missing parts and restoring the rest would be prohibitive; or would it?

There are people who must be given exercises in order to develop or maintain skills. Army engineers and helicopter crews, for example. How about it, fella's?

Then there's work for the dole, work for the pension, work for sickness benefit, work for refugee status..... 

A bridle track has considerable potential for eco-tourism, with tourists & supplies travelling on horseback. This could help raise money for upkeep etc. It could also be negotiated by trail bike; useful for emergencies and upkeep. Food for thought.

Seen our Bushwalking (hiking) Links? 

More Info 

• Andy Maqueen's excellent history of the Grose Valley, Back from the Brink. Maqueen's denigration of the Barton & the Engineers has been criticised by the author of the NPWS report (below).
• George Melrose, one of the surveyors.
• National Parks & Wildlife Service, Walking Track Heritage Study 1998, Item Name: Track - Engineers

Photo © David Martin 1997

Corporals Alfred Francis & Martin Lavelle, Sappers (privates) John Ashplant, Henry Grierson, Michael Given, Charles Richardson, Albert Vine, Edwin Fearnside (draughtsman based at Parramatta).