The Zig Zag Railway is an Australian heritage railway, situated near Lithgow, New South Wales. It was opened by the not-for-profit Zig Zag Railway Co-op as an unpaid volunteer-staffed heritage railway in October 1975, using the alignment of the Lithgow Zig Zag line that formed part of the Main Western line between 1869 and 1910. The line climbs the western flank of the Blue Mountains, using railway zig zags to gain height. Operation of the heritage railway was suspended in 2012 following accreditation issues with the Government of New South Wales. The railway was aiming to resume services in October 2013, but was then severely damaged during the 2013 NSW Bushfires and then subsequently by torrential rain. Repairs are ongoing and trials of restored rail vehicles and track commenced in August 2016 and it was planned to re-commence limited heritage operations in 2019, until the 2019-2020 bushfires damaged key infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic further delayed restoration and plans are now planning for the resumption of heritage train services in early 2023. History Construction and abandonment The Lithgow Zig Zag was constructed as part of the Main Western line and opened on the 19 October 1869. Between Lithgow and Clarence, the Main Western line needed to climb the western flank of the Blue Mountains, overcoming a vertical distance of . The alternative eventually decided upon required the use of two railway zig zags where all trains had to reverse. The line had a ruling grade of 1:42 (~2.38%) on three inclines known as the Top Road (above Top Points), Middle Road (between the two zig zags) and Bottom Road (below Bottom Points). The line included several short tunnels and some viaducts. The steep gradients and need to reverse trains proved to be a serious bottleneck to traffic on the line, and there were several accidents with runaway trains at the reversing points. Attempts were made to mitigate this by realigning the track and relocating and extending the reversing stations, but the problems continued. As early as 1885 plans for alleviating the Zig Zag problem involved the construction of a long tunnel. This was said to provide little gain for the cost proposed. In 1908, work began on the Ten Tunnels Deviation, a double-tracked route that by-passed the two reversing stations and the upper two inclines, although retaining the Bottom Road with its 1:42 gradient. Once this was completed, the by-passed section