Victoria Tunnel, Queensland facts for kids
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| Eastern entrance, 2010 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Grandchester, Queensland,  Australia |
| Coordinates | 27°39′19.67″S 152°25′31.24″E / 27.6554639°S 152.4253444°E |
| Route | Grandchester to Gatton Narrow gauge railway |
| Operation | |
| Operator | Queensland Railways |
| Traffic | Train |
| Character | Passenger, Freight |
| Technical | |
| Length | 537 metres (1,762 ft) |
The Victoria Tunnel is an old railway tunnel in Queensland, Australia. It's 537 meters (about 1,762 feet) long. This makes it the longer of Queensland's two oldest railway tunnels. The other one is called 'Six Chain'. Both tunnels are on the main railway line that connects Brisbane to Toowoomba. This line was special because it was the world's first main railway line built with a "narrow gauge." The tunnel was named after Queen Victoria, who was the Queen of Australia when it was built.
Contents
Building the Victoria Tunnel
How the Tunnel Was Built
The Victoria Tunnel, along with the 'Six Chain' tunnel, was built through the Little Liverpool Range mountains. It was part of a "narrow gauge" railway line. This line connected the towns of Grandchester and Gatton.
The railway line opened in June 1866. However, building the Victoria Tunnel took longer than expected. Workers found unexpected problems with the ground inside the mountain. Because of these issues, the tunnel had to be lined with three layers of bricks.
Tunnel Size and Upgrades
Adding so many bricks made the tunnel's inside space smaller. This meant that only certain sizes of trains and cargo could fit through. This is called the "loading gauge." To help bigger trains and cargo fit, the floor of the tunnel was lowered by 150 millimeters (about 6 inches) in 1985.
Making Tunnels Bigger for Modern Trains
There are 11 single-track tunnels on the railway line between Ipswich and Toowoomba. All of them were built around 1865. They are all a bit too small for modern shipping containers, which are about 2.9 meters (9.5 feet) high. To fix this, there are plans to lower the floors in these tunnels. This will make them wide enough for today's larger containers.
