| Historical notes: | Statement of Country
Junee is located on Wiradjuri Country (AIATSIS, 2016).The Wiradjuri are traditionally known as 'people of the three rivers', referring to the Wambuul (Macquarie), Galari (Lachlan), and Marrambidya (Murrumbidgee) Rivers (GML, 2025). Wiradjuri Country covers a vast area of regional NSW, being the largest nation geographically in NSW and connected through a shared language and beliefs. The 'Gugaa' (Goanna) is the overarching totem for the Wiradjuri nation. It is the symbol that connects all people, past and present, on Wiradjuri Country (Wagga Wagga City Council, 2021
Junee/Jewnee is believed to be a Wiradjuri word meaning 'speak to me'. Wiradjuri people maintain strong continuing connection to Country and the Wiradjuri language has the highest number of speakers of any Aboriginal language (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022).
Development of the Main Southern Line
After the construction of the first railway in NSW between Sydney and Parramatta in 1855, two major country lines were planned across the State: the Main Southern Railway (to Albury) and the Main Western Railway (to Bourke). These new lines were constructed under John Whitton, who was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of NSW Railways in 1867 (Sydney Trains, 2023). The growth of the railways was widely seen as a triumph of science and civilisation. The Sydney Morning Herald in 1855 claimed that 'the great agent of civilisation, the best and most effective servant of progress, has been retained by the antipodean colonies of Australia' (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 September 1855, accessed through Trove).
From the 1860s, colonial competition between Victoria and NSW contributed to the rapid expansion of rail networks in both states in the direction of the border and also to conflicts about rail gauge (Lee, 2000). The extension of the Main Southern Line beyond Mittagong from the late 1860s was a direct response to concerns that wool and other produce from the Riverina and western NSW would be diverted to Melbourne via river boats and the Victorian railway from Echuca on the Murray River, which opened in 1864.
The line reached Goulburn in 1869, Yass Junction in 1876, Junee in 1878, Wagga in 1879 and Albury in 1881. A journey that once took several days now took about nine hours. Regional economies prospered as local markets had faster access to Sydney. In June 1883, the Sydney-Melbourne link was completed when a temporary railway bridge across the Murray River was opened. NSW standard gauge trains arrived on the eastern side of the Albury platform, Victorian broad-gauge trains on the western side (Ryan, 2022).
Growing towns in the region required branch lines. In April 1879, the Parliament of NSW approved construction of a railway from Junee to Narrandera, with ultimate extension to Hay. The line to Narrandera opened in 1881 (and on to Hay in July 1882) making Junee an increasingly important rail junction. Extensions to Leeton (1912) and Griffith (1916) meant considerably more produce would pass through Junee, either south via Albury or north to Sydney for export (Lee, 1988).
Establishment of the town of Junee
The requirement for depots at regular intervals to house and maintain steam locomotives meant that the railway created its own centres according to the location of junctions and termini, and the distance travelled by train crew shifts. In sparsely populated and hilly areas, towns were established whose existence depended on the railway and the steam locomotive. Key examples in NSW were Werris Creek, Junee, Harden Murrumburrah and Binnaway (McKillop, 2009).
Junee is 437 kilometres south-west of Sydney and 491 kilometres north of Melbourne, making it approximately half way between Sydney and Melbourne. In 1878, when the railway line extended to Junee, the NSW Government allocated a 40 acre site to form an official town which was initially named Loftus after the Governor of NSW at the time.
The residents petitioned for the town to be renamed Junee (named after an early 19th century pastoral lease for the area 'Jewnee Run'), which occurred in 1885. The town grew rapidly and by 1901 2190 people lived there, largely employed in locomotive maintenance, shipment of goods, and other railway related activities (Junee Council, 2026).
Junee Railway Station
The original modest timber station at Junee was named Loftus. It included a stockyard loop, men's toilet, ladies' toilet, ladies waiting room, ticket office, general waiting room, parcels office and porters' lamp room. A carriage dock was also built into the Sydney end of the platform to enable horse carriages to be unloaded from the passenger trains. In 1881 the station was renamed Junee Junction. It burnt down in 1882 (Forsyth, 2009).
The current Junee station precinct was constructed between 1883 and 1885. It was one of a group of grand NSW railway buildings opened in important regional centres during the 1880s and designated First Class Stations, including Werris Creek, Albury, Dubbo, Goulburn, Hay and Newcastle. The designs were not standardised, but common features include substantial brick construction with late Victorian elements such as towers, bay windows and decorative ironwork. They usually had more than six rooms and symmetrical proportions, forming imposing landmarks. As in many other country towns, the railway at Junee was a link to the market and ports of Sydney and also seen as the new gateway to the pastoral and agricultural wealth of the Riverina. Rail freight capacity allowed more diverse agriculture in the region, ushering in wheat and vineyards. Junee continued to develop as a railway town with a major maintenance centre and trans-shipping facilities (Sheedy, 1996; Forsyth, 2009). On the opening of the Junee to Narrandera branch line, the Commissioner for Railways named Junee 'one of the most important railway towns in NSW' (Trove, 1947).
Railway Refreshment Rooms
As journey times increased, the provision of food for passengers became important and railway refreshment rooms (RRR) were established at major stations. The earliest RRRs were at Sydney, Mittagong, Penrith, Mount Victoria and Singleton. Later, more elaborate buildings allowed Junee, Newcastle and Werris Creek to also provide hotel accommodation for travellers (McKillop, 2009).
Initially refreshment rooms were locally operated. Direct administration by the Railway Commissioners began in 1917. In 1938 the NSW Industrial Commission made the first comprehensive award for RRR staff, who were mainly women (Museums of History NSW, 2025).
At their peak in the late 19th century, the elaborate RRR building was the pride of Junee. Vice-regal parties stayed there, beginning with Lord Carrington in the late 1880s, followed by the Earl and Countess of Jersey. Accommodation at the station became very popular, so an additional wing was added to the eastern side of the RRR in 1892. It included a large showroom for commercial travellers and a billiard room on the ground floor, with another 19 bedrooms above (Scobie & Ferry, 1999).
In the post-World War II period, the role of the RRR gradually changed. Table service was replaced by counter service, set menus were encouraged for time efficiency and in the mid to late 1950s some closed and others were leased to private enterprise (Museums of History NSW, 2025).
The Junee refreshment rooms continue to operate as a café and gift shop under the name Railway Café and Emporium.
The Locomotive Depot
Roundhouses were a common form for engine depots in the first half of the 20th century as an improvement to the simpler rectangular shed form. They were constructed either as a complete ring or segment of a circle centred on a turntable which could deliver engines to any of the stalls or sidings. The partial ring form was flexible in that it could be extended as needed. The use of the roundhouse as an engine shed greatly extended the possible range of operations and manoeuvres and reduced the need for complicated trackwork. From 1915 until 1940, the standard NSW locomotive roundhouse design included a 75 feet diameter turntable. Roundhouses which conform to this standard design remain at Broadmeadow, Casino, Cowra, Muswellbrook and Temora (Davies, 1978; Godden 1989).
With the duplication of the line to Junee in 1945, the existing locomotive sheds in the triangle north of the station were deemed too small. A new depot was built a mile south of the station. When officially opened in September 1947, it was claimed that the Junee Locomotive Depot precinct contained the largest roundhouse in the southern hemisphere (Roundhouse Museum, 2024). The depot and its servicing facilities were designed to be the principal repair, locomotive service and maintenance facility for the far southern region of the state, which was becoming an increasingly important agricultural and wool region. The location of such a large depot at Junee was strategic as it is almost centred between Sydney and Melbourne (Scobie & Ferry, 1999). The Junee roundhouse, or loco, as it was called, was the last specialty steam depot built in NSW and was the pinnacle of steam depot development in the state, making it the busiest and most sophisticated depot on the NSW railways for many years. Its fully circular form and significant size reflected the importance of Junee as the major junction on the Southern Line and as the gateway to the Riverina. In the following decades, it was adapted for diesel use and continued to be a major railway transport and maintenance depot.
Much of the roundhouse is currently tenanted by the Junee Railway Workshop Pty Ltd, a commercial operation. The primary activities of the business are servicing and breakdown support services, repairs and maintenance of rollingstock for other organisations, and the supply of fuel and other consumables. Other parts of the depot are occupied by the Regional Heritage Transport Association Junee Inc., a community based organisation which operates a museum dedicated to local railway history on the site. |