Chapter 4 - Work on the Railways - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

*On Wooden Rails <strong>Chapter</strong> 4 8/30/05 8:27 PM Page 153
On the Stations
The railway stations of the cities and the country towns
were the public face of the New South Wales Railways.
They were also the centre of travel and freight activities,
as well as community life. The people employed on the
stations performed a range of duties from porters
assisting with luggage and loading and unloading
freight, the ticketing and book-keeping, signals,
maintaining points, tracks and platforms. The
Refreshment Rooms or kiosks would service the hungry
travellers, while the larger stations provided
accommodation. The guards would give the ‘all clear’ as
gate-keepers tended the crossings. The goods and freight
once moved by rail covered everything from the mail, to
groceries, fresh agricultural produce, coal and wheat and
wool, to heavy industrial machinery. Most stations
would move the needle as well as the haystack. The
stations ranged from modest timber buildings to grand
and ornate public buildings dominating the centre of
many towns.
A Brief History of Sydney Station
When it was first opened in 1855 the main station was
named Sydney Station until 1905, and was colloquially
known (as well as in official dispatches) as ‘Redfern’,
reflecting its distance from the city centre in an area
known as the Cleveland Paddocks. This name was later
dropped as the former Eveleigh Station was renamed
Redfern in 1906, by which time a second station had
been built and was known as Central.
The original station was solely for passenger use, but
soon expanded to accommodate goods yards, parcels
and freight. The station was serviced by horse-drawn
cabs and buses to Circular Quay, by way of George, Pitt
and Elizabeth Streets. Later these were replaced by
steam trams. By 1864, the railways had reached Penrith
and Picton, requiring further expansion of station
facilities.
Commissioner Eddy had requested that the terminal
station be moved closer to the city in the late 1880s, but
legislation for the new (and current Central Station)
wasn’t passed until 1901. The construction of the new
station required the removal of a number of buildings
and resumption of land around the site, including the
steam tramway depot, a convent, church, and a cemetery
at Devonshire Street. The first platform and two storeys
of the main building were opened in 1906.
On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of <strong>Work</strong> on the NSW Railways
Wollongong Station Staff, 1928 (Wollongong Library/Illawarra Historical Society)
Yards, carriage sheds and sidings, platforms and signal
boxes were added and remodeled to service the Central
Station. The distinctive clock tower was added and
began operating in 1921. The modifications continued
with electrification, and the construction of the
underground railway, signals and communications
advances. The station also boasted a grand Refreshment
Room. Eventually, the new station, which was separate
from the site of the first and second stations, was
extended in 1961 to go across Devonshire Street and
back onto the site of the old station.
The unfinished business of Central includes the two
‘ghost platforms’ or platforms 26 and 27, that sit above
platforms 24 and 25, complete with lighting, no tiles,
and space for track. Each has a short length of tunnel
from each of the platforms that lead nowhere. They were
constructed at the same time as the Eastern Suburbs
railway, in case they were required in future. 1
The impressive Mortuary Station pre-dates the
developments around the new Central Station. It was
opened in 1869 in Regent Street. It was one of three
cemetery lines that were operated by the New South
Wales Railways. These were the lines to Sandgate
Cemetery in Newcastle, which operated for 100 years
from 1881. The other two lines were to Sydney’s
Rookwood cemetery, opened in 1867 and the branch to
Woronora Cemetery opened in 1900.
“Impressive arches shelter part of the platform and
enclose the track. Hard sandstone is used for the
columns, parapets and arches while the softer Pyrmont
sandstone is used for the walls. …. Funeral trains,
1For a detailed history of Sydney Central Station, see John Oakes, Sydney’s Central, Australian railway Historical Socierty,
NSW 2002
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