Secrets of a Sydney past

I mentioned the Richmond line a moment ago. It's still a lovely single track line for the most part with a country air about it. It ends abruptly, like it was cut short - as indeed it was. You can still see where the tracks once went on, crossed the road and went through the park. You can see remains of reserved track and old bridges alongside the main road.

Many years ago when I was much younger Richmond was steam operated - we are talking the late 60's into the early 1970s, but now it is electrified.

Here are some more details and links related to closed lines in Sydney:

• Richmond-Kurrajong line history in detail
• Pics and brief history
• Yet more - the stations on the Richmond line
  
• Parramatta to Castle Hill line, extended to Rogan's Hill
• Mortuary line to Woronora
• Mortuary line to Rookwood
• The military/industrial line to Rope's Creek
• The Sandown line
• The Warwick Farm line
• Prospect quarry line
• Potts Hill line
• North Sydney car sidings
• Holsworthy line
• Still running but with the odd closed station, the Carlingford line
• Campsie to Flemington goods line
• Homebush Abattoir branch line
• A lost station at Parramatta Park
  

Labels: disused, Parramatta, railways, Richmond, Sydney

I mentioned the private railway to the Prospect quarry, well here's the current owner's heritage report on the site.

The railway gets a mention: "The remnant railway embankment represents a particular period in the life of the quarry and as such has historic value that should be included as part of the site interpretation. The alignment of the original branch railway should be identified and marked out, where this is feasible within the proposed development, so that this aspect of the quarry’s history is not lost. If not feasible it could be incorporated into an interpretive display panel." Let's hope that happens.

Boral (the landowner) also has an interesting historical article on the local area. The railway and the quarry get a mention:

"The subject site was originally part of the 500 acre land grant made to the
explorer William Lawson, who built his home Veteran Hall (now an identified
archaeological site on the SHR), to the west of Prospect Hill. In 1846 William
Lawson’s third son, Nelson Simmons Lawson, developed the property as the
Greystanes Estate; the name derived from the grey colour of the basalt
outcrops on the Hill, and built “Greystanes House” to the east of Prospect
Hill. Greystanes was approached by a long drive lined with a mix of English
trees and jacarandas. The house was demolished in 1946 after having fallen
into a state of disrepair (Pollen, 1988: 210)."

Greystanes is of course a local suburb, to the east of the site. The article continues:

"The quarry was formally established in 1870 and soon after was identified as
having the potential to be the principal supplier of basalt rock for metal
production in western Sydney.

"In 1910 a branch railway line was added, connecting the site with the Prospect
line. The Prospect line was constructed in 1901 by the Emu Gravel Company,
it ran for a total of 5.2km on a standard gauge. The original line not only
carried gravel from the site but also carried workers to the quarry until the
line closed in 1926. Evidence exists that this line was used for picnic outings,
where families were taken for a day out. A part of the railway embankment,
is still discernible within Prospect Quarry."

Now I'm a bit confused here. Although it seems logical (by proximity) to connect to the neighbouring private railway to Toongabbie, I always believed the Widemere line ran independently from the quarry to Fairfield, not Toongabbie. Certainly the graceful curve of the local street layout partially supports that idea, at least to Hassall Street. More investigation needed, I suspect! Back to the article:

"Construction of Prospect Reservoir began in 1882, as an important element of
the Upper Nepean Scheme, and was the main storage reservoir of Sydney's
fourth water supply system. The water from Prospect Reservoir travelled to
Pipehead Guildford via the Lower Canal, which is south of the Quarry, and to
the immediate north of Widemere East. The western boundary of the quarry
is shared with the Prospect Reservoir which contains several elements in close
proximity to this shared boundary including the outlet/scour tunnel, the
Lower Valve House, the receiving basin and the initial section of the Lower
Canal and the former inlet for 30 inch by-pass. None of these items are visible
from the quarry site.

"The landscape of Prospect Hill on Greystanes Estate has been significantly
altered from its original form. Early grazing practices cleared the entire hill,
as shown in a photograph taken in 1927 (Wallace 1992:2). Quarrying in the
area began in the 1820s, and by the latter part of the century dolorite was
being extracted from Lawson’s estate on the west and north sides of the Hill."

That's another story - the Sydney water supply!

Labels: private railway, Prospect, quarry, Widemere

Well I plan to do a lot of things, whether I find the time is another matter..

1. I plan to look at disused, discarded or removed railway lines in Sydney (here's a short list: The line from Richmond across the Nepean and up the mountains; the line from Campbelltown to Camden; the Toongabbie private line to the Associated Blue Metal Company quarry near the CSIRO's sheep research station at Prospect that survives as an embankment in a field; Widemere, same area but servicing the Sydney and Suburban Blue Metal Quarry Ltd, running from the south eastern side of Prospect Reservoir down to the main railway at Fairfield; and the private zig zag railway at Thornleigh)
2. "Old" roads, like Old Cowpasture Road, now mostly known as the Horsley Drive
3. Disused ferry crossings, like the Georges River crossing at the southern end of Forest Road - still largely intact. Or the ferrymasters' cottage and remains of the punt infrastructure at the Punt Bridge, East Gosford
   
4. The remains of old bridges, like the original Iron Cove Bridge at Gladesville, still clearly visible, or the burnt out remains of the Lane Cove River Bridge at North Ryde; the original low-level Roseville Bridge, of which the snaking approach roads tell the tale
5. Old tram routes, especially the steam trams such as the line to Parramatta from Castle Hill, or from Redbank Wharf
   
6. And anything else I stumble over.
   

Labels: bridges, old roads, Sydney, trains, trams