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 route and formation of the line between Mount Surprise and Forsayth, with its steep gradients and sharp curves and accompanying lack of earthworks, along with the relative lack of steel, stone or brick bridge piers and abutments, demonstrates the nature of a railway line that was built as economically as possible. The section of the railway over the Newcastle Range and through the Delaney Gorge, although it has more earthworks and stone cuttings than any other section of the railway, also demonstrates a cheap form of railway construction, due to its sharp curves and steep gradients.