Young Railway Station

Item details


Name of item:	Young Railway Station
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Rail
Category:	Railway Platform/ Station
Primary address:	Lovell Street, Young, NSW 2594
Parish:	Young
County:	Monteagle
Local govt. area:	Hilltops

Boundary:

The listing boundary is defined by the level crossing at the eastern end of the site, the rear fence of the former gatekeepers cottage to the north and then along the far side of the tracks until the level crossing on the west is reached where the boundary crosses the tracks with a line running south approximately 10 metres to the west of the crane. From here the southern boundary is a line running parallel to the tracks on the far side of the adjacent park area, linking up to the eastern boundary at the road junction. The boundary of the bridges is the area on which they are located including abutments, embankments, structure and carriageway for a distance of 20 metres in all directions.

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Lovell Street	Young	Hilltops	Young	Monteagle	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
TAHE - Country Rail Network (CRN)	State Government

Statement of significance:


	Young station is an excellent example of a first class Victorian station building and remains an important civic building in Young. The steep gabled roofs, symmetry, Gothic inspiration and scale of the station building make it an architecturally important building which reflects the importance of early railway construction to the local community and the extent of railway expansion in NSW in the 1880s. (SHI database number 4280265, SHR 1294, LEP listing no. I127)
	Date significance updated: 11 Sep 07
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Physical description:	Extant items include the type 5, 1st class, brick station building (1885), brick platform face (1885), and station forecourt area adjoining Anderson Park.Young Railway Station BuildingUnpainted symmetrical brick building on concrete plinth, with steep pitched corrugated iron gable roof with transverse gable at each end. Matching pavilions located either side with gable roofs (facing platform). Features sandstone quoins, decorative timber barge boards and pendants. Four painted brick chimneys. Timber and corrugated iron roof platform awning with cast iron Corinthian posts with decorative lacework brackets. Brick platform face with concrete slab surface. (GML, 2016)
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	Satisfactory, repairs undertaken on station building in 2007.
	Date condition updated:26 Aug 08
Modifications and dates:	Zouch Street (Olympic Highway) timber overbridge replaced with modern concrete structure 2009, not part of this listing
Further information:	Repairs to the station building commenced in 2007.SHR Criteria a)[Historical significance] The station building and other elements within the yard are extant reminders of early railway construction in Young and of the extent of railway expansion in country NSW in the 1880s. SHR Criteria c)[Aesthetic significance] Young station is an excellent example of a first class Victorian station building and remains a major civic building in Young. The steep gabled roofs, symmetry, Gothic inspiration and scale of the station make it an architecturally important station building. SHR Criteria g)[Representativeness] Young station is an excellent representative example of a first class Victorian station building. Integrity/Intactness: The station building retains a high level of intactness, particularly in its exterior appearance.


Current use:	Railway station building currently used as visitor information centre and retail

History

Historical notes:

Between the 1850s and 1880s, two main railway lines were constructed in NSW: the Main Southern Railway to Albury and the Main Western Line which terminated in Bourke. In 1875, the Engineer-in-Chief of the NSW Railways, John Whitton, recommended a rail line linking the main Southern and Western lines. The cross- country line was completed in three sections: Murrumburrah-Young (1885), Young-Cowra (1886) and Cowra-Blayney (1888) (Jackson-Stepowski, 2001). The Main Southern Line reached Murrumburrah in March 1877 and the western line had reached Blayney in November 1876. Whitton’s proposal to link the southern and western lines was, in part, intended to reduce rail traffic along the Blue Mountains section of the western line. The original recommendation was for the cross-country line to proceed via Carcoar, Cowra, Grenfell and Young (Ryan, 1986).An early proposal was for the cross-country line to bypass the town of Young at a distance of approximately one mile, a suggestion that was denied on the grounds that the cost of constructing a road between Young and the nearest station would negate any money that might have been saved by bypassing Young. Another proposal that would have resulted in the railway missing Young entirely was the plan for a cross-country line on a completely separate route (via Orange, Forbes and Grenfell) (Ryan, 1986).The alternative route did not eventuate and in April 1881 approval was given by the NSW Parliament for construction of the Blayney to Murrumburrah railway which was to be constructed in three sections: Murrumburrah to Young, Young to Cowra, and Cowra to Blayney. The line opened on 26 March 1885, several months after the anticipated completion date of December 1884 (Ryan, 1986). A well connected group of Young businessmen are believed to have lobbied for the line to cease at Young, with the intention that this would enhance both their business activities and the Young economy in general, due to residents from surrounding districts having to travel to Young to access the railway. Their efforts were to no avail with tenders for construction of the remaining sections of the cross- country line called in 1885 (Ryan, 1986).The station building at Young opened on 26 March 1885 and closed just over 100 years later, on 15 December 1989 (SRA, 1993).

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The station building and other elements within the yard are extant reminders of early railway construction in Young and of the extent of railway expansion in country NSW in the 1880s.
SHR Criteria c) [Aesthetic significance]	Young station is an excellent example of a first class Victorian station building and remains a major civic building in Young. The steep gabled roofs, symmetry, Gothic inspiration and scale of the station make it an architecturally important station building.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	Young station is an excellent representative example of a first class Victorian station building.
Integrity/Intactness:	The station building retains a high level of intactness, particularly in its exterior appearance.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Lawrence Ryan	1986	Lines to the Lachlan: Cowra railway 1886-1986
Written	State Rail Authority of NSW, Archives Section	1993	How and why of station names
Written	Susan Jackson-Stepowski, et.al.	2001	Canowindra railway precinct: conservation management plan

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	State Government
Database number:	3150033

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