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

You probably realise that Sydney has one international airport, namely Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport. You probably also realise that there's a major light aircraft airfield in the outer-inner western suburb of Bankstown. You may even know about Camden airport, south-west of Sydney.

Some of you will have heard of Schofields, the former RAN air base, near the RAAF base at Richmond. Schofields had a triangular arrangement of intersecting runways, and when the Navy moved out the strips were gradually cut, with one DC3 marooned there when a fence divided the longest remaining strip. Did they truck it out, or take down the fence? RAAF 36 Squadron moved to Schofields near Sydney on 19 August 1946 as well for a time, populating the field with C-47s. Sadly now it's suburbia.

There's even the single-strip at Hoxton Park, west of Liverpool. You may think you know all that there is to know about aviation in Sydney... but wait, there's more.

What about Hargrave Park, near Liverpool? Now suburbia.

Penrith had an airfield, too, now a park close to town.

Holsworthy is an army base that can take short-field RAAF transports.

What of Duffy's Forest, to the north?

There are also many more grass strips to list, and we'll get to them soon enough.

What about the history of Sydney's airports? What of the pony racing that was conducted on land to the east of the current domestic terminals? Or the balloon loop for the trams that brought punters to that pony track? What of the early runway alignment at Sydney, which had one runway crossing the railway tracks to the northeast? Or of the DC3 that was involved in an accident with a freight train?

There are some secrets to be uncovered here. It will take time but we'll get there!

Labels: airports, Bankstown, camden, Hargrave Park, Holsworthy, Hoxton Park, Penrith, pony racing, Richmond, schofields, sydney airport, trams