The railway that never was
While researching the Great Northern Railway, I noticed on the historic Allandale Parish Map (1903) a line curving southwards from a point not far west of Allandale railway station. On closer inspection I noticed it was labelled Wollombi Railway and looking at the adjoining maps, the line did indeed go all the way to Wollombi. Obviously, further research was needed.
Parish Map of Allandale, 1903
(Parish Maps, NSW Land Registry Services)
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. Railways in Sydney began in 1850 and Newcastle in 1854, reaching East Maitland in 1857, West Maitland in 1858 and Singleton in 1863. At the beginning of building the Great Northern Railway, in 1854, the Mercury was again advocating an inland link to Sydney, avoiding the formidable width of the Hawkesbury River nearer the coast.
The Mercury on 15 July 1856, reported that a meeting was to be held at Wollombi on the 17th:
“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.”
On 2 August 1879, the Mercury published a letter from Mr W. Snape of Ellalong, complimenting the government on commencing the survey of the line from Allandale railway station on the Great Northern line toward Cessnock and Wollombi. By 30 August, the Mercury reported:
“The railway survey party are rapidly approaching Wollombi township, and hope runs high in the breast of some, that the chosen route will be through our district.”
Map of the proposed Wollombi railway.
(Cartography: L J Henderson)
Two other options for the link were also on the books. One was from Mulgrave station on the Blacktown-Richmond line to Lower Portland and to then follow the Putty Road to Singleton. The other was from Homebush to Peats Ferry (now the Pacific Highway Bridge across the Hawkesbury) then to Gosford and Waratah on the Great Northern Railway.
Singleton Borough Council petitioned the government for the Sydney link to pass through Broke and Wollombi, and East Maitland Council advocated a link from there to Wollombi. West Maitland considered itself the centre for the larger population on the Hunter River and as the nearest point for traffic from the Paterson, Williams and Manning Rivers. Mr W. Snape, of Ellalong again wrote to the editor of the Mercury on 18 January 1881, advocating the Allandale to Wollombi route as it was flood free, central to the district and the line would pass through an important agricultural district.
In the end, the Homebush-Waratah option was adopted by the NSW parliament in 1881 at an estimated cost of £2,000,000, including the Hawkesbury bridge costing £750,000. The railway from Allandale to Wollombi was largely forgotten, but the idea didn’t die altogether. The Mercury of 13 February 1883, reported on meetings in Ellalong, Pokolbin and Cessnock advocating the construction of a light railway between the two places and a letter to the Mercury of 8 October 1887, by Mr K. K. Milson of Wollombi, briefly fanned the flames once again. However, the railway never eventuated.
References
Maitland Mercury and Hunter River Advertiser, 1848-1890
Sydney Railway Company, Research Data Australia (website)
The Story of Sydney’s Railways, Pocket Guide to Sydney (website)
