197103 – McCamley & Meyers – NSW Railways – Sydney – Orange Microwave Link

The year 1970 will be remembered historically as the “Bi-Centenary” year, denoting the discovery of the Australian Continent. It wi11 also be known to Railway Historians as the first year of the installation of Microwave Radio Link Transmission as a media for Railway Trunk Telecommunications in Australia.

Whilst the installation, testing and commissioning of the system was not finalised until 1st March, 1971, the Microwave System between Sydney and Orange was actually operative in 1970. In fact, it was used for a period of five (5) days, between 2nd September, 1970, and 7th September, 1970, to provide emergency train working communications between Lithgow and Orange for the provision of the main Western line telephone train control system, and also to provide operator automatic telephone trunk dialling channels off the Sydney Exchange to the manual switchboard at Orange. This was necessary, due to the damage, by snow and ice, to several of N.S.W. sections of the combined signalling and communications pole route in the Lithgow area Lithgow is located midway between Sydney and Orange.

Orange is a country centre in N.S.W., located 200 rail miles from Sydney. It has a population of 21,470 people, and is situated on the main Western Line to Broken Hill. It is also an important rail junction for the lines which link other areas of the State.

The need for the provision of a microwave radio link between Sydney and Orange, became apparent in 1964 after an investigation of the bearer trunk line facilities, between these two centres, indicated that the present Departmental communications cable and open line wire plant was being over-taxed, and major cable and line construction would be necessary to provide physical bearers capable of taking transmission equipment for any additional, high quality, trunk carrier telephone channels.

At this time, all communications trunk channels emanating from Sydney to the West were carrier telephone hauled and accommodated in a main buried trunk telephone cable between Sydney and Lithgow, a distance of 97 rail miles, and then by open wire line construction from a further 104 miles to Orange.