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Thu 21 Jan 1954 - Wellington Times (NSW : 1899 - 1954)
Page 3 - The history of the construction of the Western railway line
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The history of the construction
of the Western railway line
Platforms opened near residences of persons
influential enough to obtain them
BY
E. C. ROWLAND,
SECRETARY, ROYAL
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
The other main reason for the establishment of a railway platform was the
presence of the residence of a person sufficiently influential to persuade the railways
to cater especially for him and his family.
Thus, at the top points of the Lapstone Zig Zag, there opened in 1874 a
platform known as Lucasville to serve the needs of the Hon. John Lucas, M.L.A.,
whose residence of that name was just above on the hill.
The platform remained in use until the Zig Zag was closed in 1892. The con-
crete platform is still to be seen in the scrub above the western highway.
Valley Heights station was once known as "Wyoming"
Similarly, in 1875, Eager's
Platform, was opened to serve
the needs of Sir Geoffrey Eager,
who lived at "Wyoming" on
the northern side of the line
and at what we know as Val-
ley Heights to-day.
In 1877, the platform was
re-named the "Valley," and
finally received the present
name in 1890.
When the line was duplicated
in 1902, the level crossing of the
Bathurst Road, just beyond the
station, was eliminated, but the
old gatehouse, with its date
1867, remains on its own.
There are several of these
dated stone cottages beside the
Blue Mountains line and most
of them mark the site of former
level crossings.
Incidentally, the Valley im-
plied in the name of the
locality is Fitzgerald's Gully
on the northern side of the
line.
It is of interest because of
its geological formation, being
old volcanic rock which has
given the valley a good pro-
ductive soil.
In 1867 the now vanished
platform of Numantie was
opened between the present
Faulconbridge and Linden Sta-
tions. It was close to the land
owned by Sir James Martin
and the platform was prin-
cipally for his family's use.
On the southern side of the
line is "The Bungalow" built
partly on the extensive founda-
tions covering 5 acres, upon
which was begun, but never
completed, a large house for
Sir James. It became known as
"Martin's Folly" after its
abandonment.
The platform of Numnatie
was closed to the public in 1891,
and was used privately by the
Martin and Cliff families until
1897, when it was dismantled.
In 1877 Faulconbridge Plat-
form, on a more easterly site
than the present station, was
opened for Sir Henry Parkes,
Premier of New South Wales.
The modern station was built in
1902, when the railway line was
duplicated. The home and tomb
of Sir Henry are on the left
side of the line from Sydney.
In the same year, 1877,
Breakfast Point platform was
opened at a spot nearly op-
posite the main entrance of the
Lapstone Hotel for the benefit
of Mr. Want, who lived nearby.
This platform, like Lucasville,
went out of use when the Zig
Zag was closed in 1892.
Two other platforms on this
section appeared as the result
of watering arrangements.
Midway between Lucasville
platform and Wascoe's (Blax-
land) there was a water tank
fed by a lagoon which is about
one mile north of the present
Glenbrook Station. While the
engines watered at this spot, it
was possible to board or leave
the train.
The water tank became known
as Wascoe's Siding and was
made a public platform in
1874. Its name was changed to
Brookvale in 1878 and to Glen-
brook in 1879. When the line
was re-located through the
Gorge in 1913, the site of the
station was moved to its pres-
ent location. The old station
stood by the side of the present
highway at Glenbrook, the road
having been built on the earth
works of the former line.
Linden appeared first as a
crossing loop with a small priv-
ate platform on August 4th,
1874. In March 1882, it is a
public stopping place with two
crossing loops and appears as a
platform in the timetable of
1883 as Seventeen Mile Hollow.
In 1885 a water supply was
arranged, the tanks filled from
a damned gully, Woodford
Creek, the hills about a mile
to the north. Here trains were
watered for some years until
the Wentworth Falls Reservoir
came into use.
However, we have pushed too
far ahead with the general
story. As mentioned earlier, the
Penrith-Wentworth Falls sec-
tion, Wentworth Falls to Mount
Victoria, was opened on May 1st,
1868. The only stopping place on
this part was Govett's Leap,
established as a platform in 1869
and re-named Blackheath in
1871.
It is interesting to note that
when the line was opened
through to Mount Victoria,
Katoomba, now the tourist
centre of the Blue Mountains,
was unknown.
There was a small settlement
at Pulpit Hill, beyond the Ex-
plorers' Tree, where a hostelry,
"Shepherd and the Flock," was
situated.
At the site of the present day
Katoomba there was a quarry,
traces of which can easily be seen
in the little park near the level
crossing. Here large quantities of
ballast were produced for the
railways.
A siding with timber platform
was opened in 1874, with the
name "Crushers", taken from the
crushers of the nearby quarry.
A single platform, known as
Katoomba, was opened in 1877,
and the present island platform
in 1891 when a crossing place was
laid out to allow the two Orange
day passenger trains to pass.
It was the opening of a coal
mine in the Jamison Valley by
Mr. J. B. North in 1881, and the
introduction of saw-mills as well
as the discovery of places of
scenic interest that led to the
development of Katoomba, the
place of "The falling of many
waters."
A double track skip tram-line
ran from the top of an incline
above the coal mine to North's
Siding, three quarters of a mile
beyond Katoomba and crossed
under the Bathurst road by a
bridge which remains derelict
to-day.
The track up the incline is
now known as the Scenic Rail-
way at Katoomba and is all
that remains of the line. The
original Katoomba settlement
was near Orphan Rock; here the
miners lived.
By 1883, there were two
hotels opened, the Great West-
ern (Mr. H. C. Rowell) and
Biles, opposite the Station, and
a public school was in the
course of construction.
A siding was opened at Med-
low in April 1880 and was known
as Brown's Siding. But, how-
ever, as there was a Brown's
Siding in the Lithgow Valley,
some confusion ensued.
Thus, in May 1883, the name
was changed to Medlow. After
the opening of the Hydro
Majestic by Mr. Mark Foy in
1903, the name was again
changed to Medlow Bath.
(CONTINUED PAGE 4)

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3)
History of Railways
Steepest climb in Australia

From Valley Heights to Ka-
toomba, the railway completes
twenty miles of the steepest
climbing on any line in Aust-
ralia. There is a total rise in
altitude of 2280 feet between
the two stations, half the
distance having a gradient of
1 in 33.
This will explain why a sec-
ond engine is added to most
trains before they begin to climb
from Valley Heights, and why
all goods trains leaving Katoom-
ba going down the range have
their brakes applied and tested.
With the line now as far as
Mount Victoria, it is perhaps a
suitable stage at which to
mention the famous Blue
Mountain Evening Express,
commonly known as "The Fish".
It was in the sixties when
this train, the afternoon "down"
began its regular run.
The driver was a brawny Scot
from Glasgow named Jock
Heron.
In the Railway Historical
Society's "Bulletin No. 138," the
reason for the name is given.
"The reputation and tradition
of 'The Fish', dates back to
the days of the Singles (Loco-
motives of special type). Big,
burly and grim Jock Heron with
No. 15 (engine) established a
reputation for fast running, and

each evening as he challenged
the signals at Penrith, the re-
mark would be made 'Here
comes the big fish'— as he was
known to all and sundry at Pen-
rith.
"He continued to run the train
for many years, and legend has
added the names of Salmon and
Pike to the train crew. But
while railway records confirm
the name Pike, they remain
silent on Salmon."
In time, his nickname was
given to the train, and is of-
ficially used to-day.
John Heron served the Rail-
ways faithfully for many years
and died at his residence, Mar
House, Upper Bay View Street,
McMahon's Point, on Septem-
ber 2nd, 1906, at the age of 75.
The line to Mount Victoria
has been open for 83 years,
first as a single track, but, since
1902, a double track through
out, except for the isolated
section of single line between
Emu and Glenbrook which last-
ed until 1913.
It is interesting, therefore,
to compare the fares and run-
ning times at certain years over
this period and the following
adapted tables, built up from
Bradshaw's Guide and the New
South Wales Government Rail-
way Time Tables, are appended: