| Historical notes: | The Narrandera Railway Precinct is located on the Hay Branch Line. The line opened from Junee to Narrandera in 1881. Charles Hardy was issued a contract for construction of the railway station at Narrandera on 1 September 1880 with the second-class station building completed for the opening of the line on 28 February 1881 (Forsyth, 1992).
In April 1873 John Sutherland, the Minister for Public Works, set out a policy to complete 'the main trunk railways'; both the Main Southern line to Albury and the Western trunk route to Bourke on the Darling River were responses to the threat that wool from the Riverina and the west would be diverted to Melbourne via river boats and the Victorian railway to Echuca on the Murray River, which opened in 1864. The construction of the line to Narrandera, however, was perpetuated by pastoral interests that overthrew the 'Trunk Railways Policy'. This laid the foundations for the era of 'railway mania' between 1877 and 1887 when railway leagues were established in towns and villages across the inland to lobby for branch lines to serve their area. In the five years from December 1879, the NSW railway network increased 136 per cent from 1174km to 2771km in length, dubbing the period as the 'Great Railway Years'. Narrandera was one of many centres in NSW (along with Hay and other towns in surrounding districts) to benefit from the 'railway mania' of the 1870s and 1880s (McKillop, 2009).
The opening of the Narrandera-Hay line played a major part in bringing about the decline of the riverboat trade in southern NSW and helped secure the trade of produce from the Riverina for Sydney, whereas it had previously gone predominantly to Melbourne. Narrandera's prosperity increased considerably following the arrival of the railway (RNE, 2009).
In 1884 a grand two-storey residence was constructed for the Station Master, indicating the importance of Narrandera as a key town in the NSW network and the prominence attributed to the position of the railway Station Master (Freeman Collett and Partners, 1995).
Some of the early changes to the station at Narrandera included: the erection of the Junction name board (1891), provision of horse posts at front of station building (1891), office for the Traffic sub-inspector (1891), Hay line brought in to Narrandera independently of Tocumwal branch line, construction of overbridge at Junee end of station (1892), installation of 20 tonne cart weighbridge and an additional coal stage (1900), loop erected for stock loading (1902), provision of an 18.2m turntable (1910), conversion of the ladies waiting room into a refreshment room (1912), and many other additions (Forsyth, 1992).
Initially, the main freight moved to Sydney included wool, sheep and small amounts of wheat. During the early decades of the 20th century the quantities of wheat freight increased greatly with a wheat stacking site provided in 1916. The station building was extended in 1912 and again in 1917 with the opening of the Railway Refreshment rooms. A cottage was also built in 1917 for refreshment room staff (Forsyth, 2009).
From 1910-1950 special trains were used to transport football players and spectators within the Riverina district, with women doing the weekly shopping at the same time. Trains also carried passengers to Narrandera for swimming carnivals and the Easter sporting carnivals and cycling races. Special trains were also used to carry passengers to the district railway picnic days (Freeman Collett and Partners, 1995).
During the 1940s and 1950s, activity at the Narrandera station and yard was at its peak. A new barracks building was constructed in 1941 and the platform was extended at the Sydney end in 1942.
By the 1970s and 1980s rail services in the south and south west of NSW had declined, with the Narrandera to Tocumwal line closing in December 1988. Narrandera station is no longer attended by station staff and is serviced by road coaches connecting with trains at Junee, and a once weekly passenger rail service (Cottee, 2004; SRA, 1993).
The two-storey Station Master's residence is still extant, but was sold in 1988 and is now in private ownership. |