Etheridge railway line
The railway stations at Mount Surprise, Einasleigh and Forsayth and the route of the Etheridge Railway between Mount Surprise and Forsayth, including surviving railway buildings, rails, sidings, turning forks, loading banks, stone pitched bridges and culverts, stone cuttings, sandboxes, water tank, signage, and signals and points infrastructure, are important surviving evidence of the efforts of the Chillagoe Railway and Mines Company to supply copper ore to its smelters at Chillagoe.
Etheridge railway line
The section of the Etheridge Railway over the Newcastle range and through the Delaney Gorge has more earthworks than the rest of the railway. The railway track runs along the north face of the Delaney Gorge and along the bed of the Delaney River for a short distance. The significant elements within this section of the railway include any stone pitched bridge piers and abutments, stone pitched culverts, and stone cuttings. A large stone pitched culvert is located near Native Well, east of Wirra Wirra. A bridge over Starlight Creek, just east of Delaney Gorge, has stone piers and abutments, and a small bridge just east of Wirra Wirra has stone abutments. Bridges constructed with stonework are significant due to their rarity on the Etheridge line.