Rail link to Sydney
In 1846 interested parties met at Lyon’s sale rooms, Charlotte Place, Sydney, to investigate and discuss the possibilities of railway construction in New South Wales. The result of the meeting was the formation of the Great Southern and Western Railway Company and the appointment of a provisional board of directors.
Two years later the Legislative Council carried a series of resolutions supporting railway development in the colony. Private railway companies, however, were unwilling to begin without government aid. Crown grants of land and government Savings Bank investments funded the project.
Construction begins
The Sydney Railway Company was incorporated in October 1849, but did not receive royal assent until January 1851. However, the first sod for the Sydney to Parramatta line was turned on 3 July 1850 by Governor FitzRoy’s daughter, Mary Caroline, and the first passenger train ran on the line in 1855.
The Newcastle to Maitland railway began in 1854 and was opened for traffic in 1857 to East Maitland and onto West Maitland in 1858.
Linking Maitland to Sydney
From the late 1840s there was lobbying to create a rail link between the lower Hunter Valley, specifically Maitland and Newcastle, and Sydney. Three different proposals emerged. As elsewhere with the planning and construction of the NSW railway network, different localities championed the routing of the railway through their centres.
The three proposed rail routes between Sydney and the Hunter Valley.
(Cartographer: Lawrence Henderson)
Parramatta-Allandale option
On 30 December 1848, the Maitland Mercury carried an article advocating a rail link between Sydney and the Hunter Valley via Wisemans Ferry and Wollombi. The idea remained quiet until 4 February 1854, when the newspaper again expressed a desire to link Maitland and Newcastle to the capital. Sir Thomas Mitchell, surveyor general, had traced a line from Sydney to the ferry at Portland Head (now Lower Portland) on the Hawkesbury, and declared it to be eminently suitable for a railway. The report continued:
“After crossing the Hawkesbury, and attending the pass on the left bank, the road winds along the tolerably level crest of the mountain range till it descends to the valley of the Wollombi.”
This would, the article said, open up the upper Hunter and Goulburn and render the Newcastle-Maitland railway a branch line.
In mid-1856 the Mercury reported that a meeting was to be held at Wollombi two days later:
“ for the purpose of taking into consideration the necessity of petitioning the Government to form a tram or railway to unite the Sydney and Hunter River lines of railway, the cross line to start from the station nearest to Windsor, pass through the Wollombi District, and proceed to the station nearest to Singleton.”
By November, 1857, the idea was becoming serious when a notice from the Railway Department, Sydney, appeared in the Mercury of 1 December, calling for tenders for the construction of a bridge over Wollombi Brook at the Township of Wollombi.
However, the tenders did not eventuate and it was 30 years before a new route, bypassing Wollombi was mooted.
Mulgrave to Singleton option
On 14 February 1878, the Mercury reported that a survey for the Sydney-Hunter line was proceeding. The line was now being surveyed from the Richmond railway to the Northern line, commencing near Mulgrave Station, and crossing the Hawkesbury immediately downstream of its junction with the Colo River, thence following the direction of Wheelbarrow Ridge to the Bulga Road (now Putty Road), and following this road to the crossing of the McDonald River, thence by Howe's Valley to Darkeys Creek. It then went to a crossing at Wollombi Brook, joining the Northern Line to the Singleton.
That same year, a new route crossing the Hawkesbury at Peat’s Ferry (where the Pacific Highway bridge now is) was suggested. But this did not deter the citizens of Wollombi. An article in the Mercury of 10 September 1858, reported a meeting at the court house to petition the government to make a trial survey of the proposed connection of the southern and northern lines of railway. The route from Wollombi should be by way of Millfield, joining the Great Northern Railway in the vicinity of Branxton. From Wollombi, it was to go to Parramatta via St Albans and Dural. The Mercury reported that the petition to the Minister of Public Works had been completed by 24 September.
On 14 September a letter was received by Singleton Borough Council from the Secretary to the Railway Committee. The letter was asking for the co-operation of the inhabitants of Singleton and district in a movement for a railway from Singleton to Sydney, via Wollombi, McDonald, Wisemans Ferry, Dural, Castle Hill, and Baulkham Hills, to join the Western line at Parramatta. Singleton Borough Council replied that although they were in favour of a link to Sydney, the particular route chosen was only of secondary importance to them.
Mr H. J. Bouffier wrote a letter to the Mercury on 19 September endorsing the Wollombi route and dismissing the Peats Ferry route as too costly. The cost of constructing a bridge across the Hawkesbury and another across Sydney Harbour would equal the entire cost of the Wollombi route, he claimed.
Homebush to Waratah option
By 1879 the New South Wales parliament was considering a third option. The Mercury of 22 February, stated that a route was being considered from Homebush, to Peats Ferry road and across the Hawkesbury at Croppy Point. From here it would go to the west of Gosford and Lake Macquarie to join the Great Northern Railway near Hexham. A comparison of this route, the Wollombi route and the Bulga (Putty) Road route would then be considered.
Lobbying for the different routes
Letters began to flow to the Mercury outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the three routes so far submitted.
A public meeting was held at the Mechanics Institute in Singleton on 11 March 1880, and reported in the Mercury two days later. The meeting was well attended and discussed influencing the Minister of Works to initiate a trial survey from Singleton to Wollombi via Broke. It was considered that it would be more convenient to convey produce to Sydney via this route, thereby avoiding potential flooding around Maitland, delaying rail traffic, for possibly days at a time. A circular, setting out the resolutions of the meeting, was drafted and sent to the northern and north-western districts of the colony along with a request for co-operation in the pursuit of the meeting’s objectives. A copy of the Singleton Argus, covering the report of the meeting, accompanied the circular. A copy of the Argus was also sent to each member of both legislative houses.
Predictably, this caused a stir in Maitland and letters to the editor of the Maitland Mercury condemned the idea of a direct line from Singleton to Sydney. John Black wrote that it was:
“against the national interest, and of the Maitland’s and Lower Hunter districts in particular, which in population, wealth, agricultural and mineral productions, is ten to one as compared with Singleton. ”
Letters in favour of a direct line to Sydney were received by Singleton Borough Council from various town committees in the north and north-west, from as far away as Tenterfield, Warialda and Narrabri. It was resolved that a deputation of citizens from Singleton and the northern constituencies should travel to Sydney to meet the Minister of Works in April 1880. The object of the deputation was to have a survey carried out from Singleton to Wollombi via Broke and to consider a connection of the Great Northern Railway from Singleton to the metropolis. A report of the meeting appeared in the Mercury on 3 April, 1880. The Minister said that the government had no desire to construct a line anywhere, at the expense of any locality. The object was to give the population in the northern districts services for communication with the capital.
An exploration survey of the route was completed by 23 April and a report was to be completed by the Engineer-in-Chief on his return from inspecting the Western line.
The Mercury of 27 April 1880, reported on a petition signed by James Fullford, Mayor of West Maitland and supported by his counterparts in East Maitland and Morpeth, addressed to the Minister of Works, John Lackey. The petition made three points:
The point of junction should be at or near Maitland, the centre for the larger population on the Hunter River and the nearest point for traffic from the Paterson, Williams and Manning Rivers.
The line would pass through coal land and could tap the government coal reserve at Mount Vincent. It would open up new coal fields, thereby adding to the revenue of the line and will pass through mainly Crown lands.
It could become a line for use in the coastal defence of the colony, and would place Sydney in communication with Newcastle, more quickly than any other line could do.
Selecting the route
John Lackey confirmed in the Legislative Assembly, as reported by the Mercury on 13 May 1880, that three railway surveys had been completed. They were:
Parramatta to the Hawkesbury River near Wisemans Ferry, St Albans and Wollombi, joining the Great Northern Railway at Allandale
Mulgrave to the Colo-Hawkesbury confluence and then along Bulga (Putty) Road to Singleton
Homebush to Peats Ferry on the Hawkesbury, Brisbane Water, west of Lake Macquarie and linking with the Great Northern Railway at Waratah.
On 19 March 1881, the Mercury reported Mr Lackey's speech in Parliament, introducing the three railway proposals. The favoured route seemed to be from Homebush to Peats Ferry, Gosford and west of Lake Macquarie to Waratah at a cost of £2,755,000. Included in the construction was an extensive bridge across the Hawkesbury, near Broken Bay, at an estimated cost of £750,000. The railway was to be dual track and, in addition, there were large engineering difficulties which would have to be overcome.
The second option, Parramatta to Wiseman's Ferry, St. Albans, Wollombi, and Allandale would cost £3,883,000.
The third option, Mulgrave to the Colo-Hawkesbury confluence, then Bulga (Putty) Road to Singleton, would cost £3,021,000.
The Mercury reported on 24 March 1881, that Mr. Cameron, in the Legislative Assembly, put the question to the Honourable Members: That there be granted a sum of £2,755,000 for the Southern and Northern Junction Railway from Homebush to Waratah. Most members blanched at the cost of the proposal, the money for which would have to be provided by loan. Debate ensued and Mr Brunker informed the Members that in dealing with this question they were dealing with one of vital importance to the whole country. Most members were in favour of the railway link, but some questioned the necessity of a double track, saying a single track would suffice. The total sum was reduced by £755,000 on the agreement of the Members and the amended question, with a sum of £2,000,000, was finally passed.
Community responses
The Singleton people were not happy. A meeting of the Singleton Railway Connection Committee took place in the Mechanics Institute hall in June 1881. The general feeling was to submit resolutions in favour of adopting a petition to parliament, showing the gross perversion of public funds by sanctioning the Homebush-Waratah route. Another proposal was that if the Homebush-Waratah line went ahead, the line should split at Cooranbong and a line should proceed to East Maitland to link with the Great Northern Railway there as well (Maitland Mercury, 18 June and 13 September 1881).
Residents of Dora Creek were dismayed to learn that the line would not pass through Cooranbong, but would be to the east of the town, thereby closing off four miles (6.4 kilometres) of the navigation of the waterway. The people there were determined not to allow the waterway to be closed without some further explanation from the Minister of Works as it cost so much to dredge and clear of snags. (Maitland Mercury, 23 March 1882).
The idea of a railway from Allandale to Wollombi did not cease. The Mercury of 13 February 1883 reported on a meeting in Ellalong, advocating the construction of a light railway between the two places. This was the third meeting, the first having been at Cessnock the previous Saturday and at Pokolbin. The purpose of the meetings was to draw up a petition for presentation to the government promoting the building of the railway. The railway proposal was soon quietly forgotten by many, but a letter to the Mercury of 8 October 1887, by Mr K. K. Milson, of Wollombi, briefly fanned the flames.
The rail link is built
The Homebush-Waratah rail option went ahead. A single track section, between Hornsby and Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River, was opened for traffic on 7 April 1887. Passengers travelling north could board a steamer and travel out of Broken Bay and into Brisbane Water to join the train at Gosford. The Woy Woy tunnel was under construction at the time and was opened to rail services on 15 Augus, 1887. The steamer then took passengers to join the line at Wondabyne on Mullet Creek. The first Hawkesbury rail bridge, begun in January 1886, was completed in 1889 and officially opened on 1 May 1889. Thus, the Great Northern Railway became linked to the Western and Southern railways of New South Wales.
References
First Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge - the final link, Hornsby Shire Recollects (website)
Maitland Mercury and Hunter River Advertiser, 1848-1887.
Sydney Railway Company, Research Data Australia (website).
The story of Sydney’s railways, Pocket Guide to Sydney (website).
