| Historical notes: | The railway precinct at Captains Flat opened on 17 June 1940 with a goods shed, 10 ton gantry crane, 60.9 metre long island platform, concrete slab station building on Down side, 18.288 metre turntable (relocated from Orange), triangle, 18 metre long ashpit, 45kl water tank, and a siding to the Lake George Mine (Forsyth, 1991).The decision to construct a branch line between Bungendore and Captains Flat was based principally on the need for a rail link to the Lake George Mine (where mining had commenced as early as 1882). One of the earliest formal representations on behalf of mining interests in the area was a letter from the Under Secretary for Mines, F.S. Mance, in November 1927 urging that a survey be made of the proposed line between Bungendore and Captains Flat. By 1930 a bill for the construction of the line was passed by the NSW Parliament and assented to on 16 June 1930, and by 1937 construction of the line had commenced using day labour. Passenger and goods services on the Bungendore to Captains Flat line commenced on 17 June 1940, with a rail motor service leaving Bungendore at 2.17pm, arriving at Captains Flat at 3.18pm, departing Captains Flat at 3.47pm and returning to Bungendore at 4.40pm (Forsyth, 1991).Operations on the line were to be short lived. By 1960 passenger numbers on the Captains Flat service were low, resulting in cancellation of the rail motor services between Bungendore and Captains Flat. Limited passenger services continued for a short time with the provision of a brake van with passenger accommodation on goods trains. On 9 March 1962 the mine closed but railway services continued for several years to allow mine tailings to be transported to Port Kembla for processing. After the closure of the mine and with passenger traffic almost non-existent, by the mid 1960s recommendations were made to the NSW government to close the line. In November the Minister for Transport recommended the line be closed but implementation of this decision was deferred for several years with the line finally closing on 1 September 1968. The last train (probably including a passenger service) to leave Captains Flat is recorded as being the 2.50pm service on 28 August 1968 with the last goods train at Captains Flat departing on 31 August 1968 (Forsyth, 1991; SRA, 1993).References:Forsyth, J.H. Stations and tracks: V3A: Southern branch lines (State Rail Authority of NSW, Sydney, 1991).State Rail Authority of NSW, How and why of station names, (SRA, Sydney, 1993). |