Bethungra is a locality in Junee Shire in the South West Slopes

South West Slopes, New South Wales

The South West Slopes is a region predominantly in New South Wales, Australia. It covers the lower inland slopes of the Great Dividing Range extending from north of Cowra through southern NSW into western Victoria...

 region of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 situated on the Olympic Way about 13 kilometres northeast of Illabo

Illabo, New South Wales

Illabo is a locality in the South West Slopes part of the Riverina and situated about 13 kilometres southwest of Bethungra and 16 km northeast of Junee. At the 2006 census, Illabo had a population of 190 people. Illabo Post Office opened on 1 July 1879. A railway station on the Main...

 and 24 kilometres southwest of Cootamundra

Cootamundra, New South Wales

Cootamundra is a town and Local Government Area in the South West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia and within the Riverina. At the 2006 census, Cootamundra had a population of 5,566. It is located on the Olympic Highway at the point where it crosses the Muttama Creek, between Junee and...

.

Bethungra Post Office opened on 1 December 1875.

Just to the north of the town lies the Bethungra Spiral, a rail spiral

Spiral (railway)

A spiral is a technique employed by railways to ascend steep hills.A railway spiral rises on a steady curve until it has completed a loop, passing over itself as it gains height, allowing the railway to gain vertical elevation in a relatively short horizontal distance...

 built on the Main South railway line

Main Southern railway line, New South Wales

The Main Southern Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes and the Riverina regions.- Description of route :...

 to ease the gradients when the line was duplicated between 1941 and 1946. A railway station was located in the town between 1878 and the 1980s, and has now been demolished.

In 1888, an accident

Railway accidents in New South Wales

The railways of New South Wales, Australia have had several incidents and accidents since their formation in 1831.-Locomotive No.1, 1858:This locomotive, built in 1855 by Robert Stephenson with three others for the first real railway line in New South Wales, was involved in two fatal accidents. The...

occurred near Bethungra when a train derailed at a washed away culvert, killing five persons.

Gallery

image:BethungraHotel.jpg|Bethungra Hotel aka Hotel Shirley
image:BethungraSpiral.jpg|Bethungra Spiral
image:OverpassBethungra.jpg|Overpass just south of Bethungra Spiral