Mount Hope railway line

[1] The basic reason for the proposed construction of a railway to service Mount Hope was to provide a means of cheap transport for the several copper mines in the district.

The work was placed in the hands of a private contractor in July the following year, but this contract was cancelled in May 1917, by which time the section from Condobolin to Matakana had been completed.

It was planned to carry out extensive improvements, including the construction of an urgently needed dam to provide a dependable water supply.

single tracked branch from Matakana to Mount Hope is given as 10 February 1919, the same as that for the main line from Condobolin to a dead-end 2.56 km beyond Trida.

There were no intermediate halts or stations and the terminus was of the simplest design possible - a main line with a single run-round siding 131 m (431 ft) in length, capable of holding twenty four-wheeled vehicles.

The Public Timetable of 1923 reveals that there was a once-a-week service to Mount Hope, originating from Condobolin at 14.30 on Fridays, connecting off the 1955 mail train from Sydney the previous day.

[1] When it was obvious that the copper mines would not re-open, and that there was no other worthwhile traffic to retain the branch, it was decided to close the line and accordingly the last train ran on Friday-Saturday 4–5 July 1924.

It appears that the track was allowed to lie unused for many years, not being lifted until the late 1930s when it was recovered for use on another line to serve a copper mine - from Bungendore to Captains Flat.