Darling Harbour Railway Station
Darling Harbour Railway Station was opened in 1875 for the wheat traffic; the wool traffic was sent to it in 1878. In 1880 it was necessary to extend to the other side of the Pyrmont Wharf. In 1904 there were 15½ miles of rails in the yard alone.
At the height of its activities:
It had a permanent staff of 338 men, including 72 clerks and 45 shunters.
It handled gross tonnage of between 1¼ and 1½ million per year.
It generated approximately £800,000.
The value of the merchandise must have been in the millions of pounds.
In 1904 the tonnage increased, owing to the unprecedented wheat harvest.
The wool traffic in 1871 was 38,910 bales; in 1894) 528,128 bales.
The coal traffic represented 250,000 tons per year.
The average number of trains arriving daily was 28, while as many as 40 or more sometimes arrived in a day.
All of this activity was managed from the offices of the railway station located at the intersection of Pier & Harbour Streets, Haymarket, by the station manager Mr Charles Paull.
Mr Paull entered his service in 1864 as a junior, when the entire goods staff numbered 18 men and the railways only extended to Penrith, Richmond and Picton. After spending seven years in the coaching branch, as a guard, pilot, porter etc., he was assigned goods foreman at Redfern. When Darling Harbour Station was opened in 1875, Mr Paull, under the late Mr Carlisle, managed both stations. Up to his 60th year, he retained the full vigour of his youthful days, which he strongly attributed to the fact that, all his life, he was a total abstainer.
The Goods Yards were finally decommissioned in 1984 with the last steam train, 1919, to steam out of the yards on 19 June 1971,escorted by the NSW Transport Workers Band to the tune of Chopin’s Funeral March.
During the Bicentennial celebrations in April 1991 the Locomotive 3801 did a commemorative run across the Wentworth Park viaduct, carrying passengers from Redfern to Dulwich Hill.
Related Items
Further Reading
1940s
Wool train 1901
Steam train in Darling Harbour