| Physical description: | BUILDINGS
Platform Building, Platform 1/2 (Type 10) (1891)
Platform Building, Platform 5/6 (Type 10) (1891)
Store rooms, (1891, 2017)
Public toilet block, (1996)
Overhead Booking Office (1891, 2017)
Signal Box, (1892)
STRUCTURES
Platforms: Platform 1, (1924) Platform 2, (1891) Platform 3/4, (1891) Platform 5/6, (1891) Platform 7, (2008)
Pedestrian footbridge, (1891, 1913, 1992, 2017)
Canopies: Platform 3/4, (1994) Platform 7, (2008)
LANDSCAPE
Brick boundary wall along The Crescent (2008)
Platform gardens (c.1900s and various later changes, current form after 1951)
Landscaping along The Crescent
CONTEXT
Homebush Railway Station is entered from The Crescent to the south (with direct access to Platform 7 and to all other platforms and the booking office via the footbridge. Access is also from Loftus Street to the north via the footbridge. To the north of the station is a residential area; while to the south is a shopping precinct. Platforms are numbered 1 through to 7 from north to south.
PLATFORM BUILDING- Platform 1/2 (1891)
External: This ‘Standard Eddy’ platform building is an original timber framed and shiplap weatherboard structure, with a brick chimney, a simple hipped roof with new roof sheeting and guttering with some original rainwater fixtures. It has engaged timber columns to the corners. The building has original windows with architrave and sill aprons and a new flat panelled door. The hipped roof over the building extends to the north of the canopy and the eaves butt up against the fascia on the east and west elevation. Modern services and conduits have been fixed to the original fabric and security grilles have been fitted to outer side of the windows. An air-conditioning unit has been fixed through the fanlight above the door. The building has a canopy comprising of cast iron columns and trusses, timber framing, diagonal lining boards, mouldings and wide fascia.
Internal: Completely modern timber lining dating from the 1970s, although there may be some extant fabric beneath.
PLATFORM BUILDING- Platform 5/6 (1891)
External: The building is a ‘Standard Eddy’ platform building with original timber framed and shiplap weatherboards, engaged timber column details to the corner and supporting cast iron brackets to the canopy. The building has a simple hipped roof with new roof sheeting and guttering with some original rainwater fixtures. The hipped roof over the building is contained within the canopy such that the underneath of the canopy soffit continues up to the external walls of the building. The building has original windows that have coloured glass to the top sashes, and associated mouldings. The eastern end of the building has been refitted with new timber cladding, and the original window has been fixed with a new architrave to match existing details. Original downpipes have been retained at lower levels. Modern conduits and services have been concealed. The building has an original canopy with cast iron columns and trusses, timber framing, diagonal lining boards, mouldings and fascia. Some of the timber elements have been replaced or repaired following damage by termites.
Internal: At the western end, most of the original fabric remains including doors, windows, floorboards, timber lining boards to walls and ceiling and fitted bench seating. The eastern end of the building has a new modern fitout. All new work is to sympathetic detail and is reversible.
STORE ROOM- Platform 1/2 (1891)
External: The storage room located beneath the toilet block was originally a storage vault under the overbridge and was extended to the west when the toilets (accessible from the footbridge) were completed in c.1996. An original arched doorway to east has been bricked up.
Internal: The room has exposed brick vault and arches.
STORE ROOM- Platform 3/4 (1891, 2018)
External: The former store room is a brick structure located beneath the booking office.
Internal: The room had exposed brick vault and arches and it has original downpipes integrated within the interior of the room. As part of Transport Access Program a pit was excavated for the footings of the new lift. The chimney breadth up to 3.4 m above platform level was demolished and ceiling (floor of former booking office above) was removed to accommodate lift shaft.
STORE ROOM- Platform 5/6 (1891, 2010s)
External: The former store room is a brick structure beneath the footbridge which has been modified with a new opening on its western end (between 2010 and 2014) to create a portal for passenger access to the end of the platform.
Internal: The room has exposed brick vault and arches and it has original downpipes integrated within the interior of the room.
PUBLIC TOILET BLOCK (1996)
The building containing public toilets is located above Platform 2 and is a recently built, modern structure in a style derived from the overhead booking office. It is an oblong building with a corrugated steel pyramid roof.
OVERHEAD BOOKING OFFICE (1891, 1927, 2017)
External: It is located on the footbridge directly above Platform 3/4 and is connected to the platforms by stairs. It is a timber shiplap weatherboard building on a brick base with existing original windows with coloured glazing to the south elevation. The booking office had an overhanging extension to its north which has now been removed. The northern side exterior wall has been reinstated and fitted with new windows. The booking office has been raised about 900mm possibly to comply with required distance above high voltage wires. The building has a corrugated steel pyramid roof. The western end of the building has a brick chimney breast but there is no chimney.
Internal: The booking office has much original fabric and detailing including mouldings, timber lining boards to ceilings and walls, timber weatherboards, windows with architraves, sills, and coloured glass. New partition walls are found internally and new windows to the northern side. Modern services and conduits have been face fixed to building fabric.
SIGNAL BOX (1892)
External: The former signal box is a three storey brick building in English bond with a timber gabled roof with weatherboard cladding to the gable ends. The main roof and cantilevered awning (bell cast profile) over the top floor windows are covered in corrugated galvanised iron. A central single brick chimney is on the south elevation and on the western elevation is a timber ladder stair giving access to the upper floors. The stair has a cantilevered top landing supported by decorative cast iron brackets and the bottom landing is supported by steel posts. The top landing gives access to an external toilet. The northern elevation has three recessed bays each containing two arched windows. The three lower windows are currently boarded up and the eastern most semicircular upper window is missing the original cast iron frame. The top floor has timber framed multi paned sliding casement windows combined alternatively with fixed sashes.
Internal: The basic elements include painted brick walls with timber floor structure and timber partition walls. Timber beaded edge boards line the ceiling on the top floor. There is no signalling equipment remaining.
PLATFORMS
Platforms 2-7 are brick faced with asphalt surface. Platform 1 is faced with a precast concrete post and panel retaining wall and is unsurfaced; the original concrete coping slabs have been removed. Platforms 1 and 2 form an island platform arrangement. However Platform 1 does not actually exist on the stations numbering system, the track adjacent (fenced off from the platform) is used as a goods line. Platform 2 is not currently in use except by trains during track work or in emergencies. Platform 3 is not currently in use except by trains during track work or in emergencies and it forms an island platform arrangement with Platform 4 (Up). Platform 5 (Down) and Platform 6 (Down) are an island platform arrangement. Platform 7 is a turnback platform, consisting of precast concrete slabs with a brick face.
PEDESTRIAN FOOTBRIDGE (1891, 1913, 1992, 2017)
The footbridge has a recent prestressed concrete deck resting on the original brick store rooms on the platforms. The original height of the footbridge has been raised, with a band of newer brickwork visible beneath the deck. Original wrought iron lattice balustrades along the deck have been replaced (1992) with a new steel lattice that imitates the design of the original footbridge. Corrugated metal canopies over the deck are a later addition (2017), with an arced roof form that reflects the profile of the original lighting brackets. Stairs to the platforms have been raised on brick plinths, with concrete steps supported by early riveted steel stringers on steel angle trestles; original newel posts at the foot of stairs to Platforms 3/4 and 5/6 feature iron cross motifs, while newels on Platforms 1/2 have a later, simpler design; original handrails have been replaced with stainless steel handrails (2017). Altered and replica steel elements can generally be distinguished from earlier elements by bolted joins, as opposed to riveted joins. Face brick steps on the south side of the footbridge are partly original, with stone copings reused over some newer brickwork; brick steps on the north side were added in 1913 to match southern stairs. Lifts to platforms 3/4, 5/6 and the northern and southern entrances are recent introductions (2018).
The lift towers at the ends of the footbridge were designed as attachments to the brick stair structures. The external wall materials are brick (with inset panels) at platform level and horizontal timber boarding at footbridge level. The lift towers have flat roofs to reduce visual prominence in comparison to the earlier pitched roofs. The lift landings have brick and steel lattice balustrades, as used elsewhere on the footbridge. The landing at the northern end is curved, echoing the curved brick wall of the original stair at the southern end.
The upper section of the lift towers on Platforms 5 & 6 lifts copy the design language from other structures on the bridge. The timber building have been built out past the brick substructure, copying the former overhead booking office extension design. This allows the timber structure to serve as the enclosure for the upper lift lobby, and created a symmetrical arrangement of similar buildings at footbridge level.
CANOPIES
The canopy on Platform 3/4 was rebuilt following the 1994 fire. It has sympathetic details and it is possible that some of the original cast iron members were reused. The contemporary parts of the canopy are identifiable in terms of the subtle variations to original timber profiles and detailing and other new elements. The canopy on Platform 7 has been built to sympathetic details, with subtle variations to original profiles and detailing. The brick boundary wall was reconstructed to match the detail of the existing original boundary wall.
LANDSCAPE/NATURAL FEATURES
A brick boundary wall to the south side of the station along The Crescent separates the station from the street.
The platforms have a series of small garden beds along the central axes, planted with mix of medium and large-sized mature trees – Thuja sp. / Platycladus orientalis (Arborvitae) and Lophostemon confertus (Brush Box). Platforms 1-2 have two large Lophostemon confertus in round brick-edged garden beds, one Thuja sp. in a small round brick-edged garden bed, and one Platycladus orientalis in a traditional ovoid-shape garden bed with a bush rock border. Platforms 3-4 have two large Lophostemon confertus and one Thuja sp., all in round brick-edged garden beds. Platforms 5-6 have two large Lophostemon confertus in round brick garden beds, and one Thuja sp. in a round garden bed with traditional rock border edge. The present plantings and gardens were likely established in the second half of the twentieth century (post-1951 aerial), but are consistent with the original form and character of Federation era platform gardens, and make a positive contribution to the landscape setting and aesthetic value of the station. A series of larger Lophostemon confertus along The Crescent on the southeast side of the station are already evident as large trees on the 1943 aerial; these trees around outside the curtilage of the station but still contribute to the broader landscape setting and aesthetic significance of the station.
A row of mature Melia azedarach (Chinaberry, White Cedar) is planted alongside the northern corridor fence opposite the Platform 1 building.
MOVABLE
Standard text for movable to be used:
NSW Railway heritage listed sites contain significant collections of stored movable railway heritage, including furniture, signs, operational objects, ex-booking office and ticketing objects, paper records, clocks, memorabilia, indicator boards and artwork. Individually, these objects are important components of the history of each site. Together, they form a large and diverse collection of movable objects across the NSW rail network. Sydney Trains maintains a database of movable heritage. For up-to-date information on all movable heritage items at this site, contact the Sydney Trains heritage team.
Key items at this station include but are not limited to:
There is a safe in the store room on Platform 3/4.
Original signage (numerous examples including ‘Homebush’ station signs)
Bench seating (Platform 5)
Some joinery items although suffer some damage
Metal brackets (stored for re-use)
Set of six timber rollover indicator boards without foot pedals on booking office concourse.
Pole-mounted bathgate-style metal indicator board and a suspended bathgate indicator board under the canopy (possibly the only examples of bathgate style indicator boards still within the network}
ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL
Homebush Railway Station has low archaeological potential. The original station master's residence was located to the north of Platform 1. However the establishment of the goods lines to the north resulted in the demolition of the residence and has most likely disturbed any archaeological evidence. The southern-eastern edge of the station along The Crescent had a number of elements such as the 1890s carriage shed, locomotive depot and locomotive watering facilities, and the 1923 nursery that provided plants to the gardens of surrounding stations. However all these structures have since been demolished and the work being undertaken by the current turnback project would most likely remove any archaeological evidence that may have existed along this edge. Another 1920s structure which has been removed was the telephone exchange building that was located to the west of the existing signal box. It is possible that there is some archaeological evidence of this structure but levelling and introduction of vegetation in this area has most probably disturbed it. |