Silkstone Siding

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Type : Siding
Line : Fingal Line
Distance from Conara Junction : 065.900km
Location : -41.576094, 148.079443
Opened : Circa 1920, closed circa 1922, re-opened 1952
Closed : Circa 1954
Status : Closed
Name meaning : After the company that operated there
Notes : A siding that serviced the Silkstone Syndicate Coal Mine. The area known as the Silkstone mine has never produced any great quantity of coal, although periodic prospecting has been carried out since the 1920s. In 1920, a pre-existing small pit (mine) was leased to Messrs Meredith and Whittle, who obtained a bulk sample the coal but did little development work. Hills et al. (1922) reported that the Silkstone workings comprised three tunnels of a prospecting nature on one seam; one tunnel 76 m long on a lower seam (probably L2); and a
few prospecting adits on an upper seam (probably Ll). No coal appears to have been mined, apart from the 140 t
removed in 1920, until work recommenced in 1950. Elliston (1951) reported that seven tonnes of coal were being
produced per day from one adit; a second adit on a lower scam was accessible but was not in use. Production ceased in 1951 after 620 t had been mined. The mine ceased operating mainly because of problems of water accumulating in the adit.

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Location of the siding (LISTmap)