Widemere Quarry Line

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Widemere Quarry Line
The light rail line at The Crescent, Fairfield
Overview
Other name(s)The Widemere line
StatusDemolished
OwnerSydney and Suburban Blue Metal Company
Termini
History
OpenedOctober 1925
Closed2 June 1945
Technical
Line length8.3 km (5.2 mi)
Track gauge61 cm (2 ft)
Highest elevation50 m (160 ft)

The Widemere Quarry Line was a private railway line that served the Widemere Quarry in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[1] Opened in October 1925 and demolished in June 1945, the industrial railway ran from Fairfield to what is now Pemulwuy, east of Prospect Reservoir, in Prospect Hill.[2] As the line ran primarily along streets, future urban development removed all vestiges of it.[3] The track was mostly placed on the northern alignment of The Horsley Drive across Smithfield to Dublin Street.[4]

History

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The Widemere line was one of New South Wales' numerous privately owned quarry lines. Situated at the southern end of Prospect Hill, the Widemere Quarry was one of the four main quarries at Prospect Hill where it featured igneous rocks, and bluestone was quarried at the area for over a century. In 1901, a new excavation was launched by the Emu Gravel Company at the northern part of Prospect Hill, which was successful and thereafter the Widemere Quarry was launched in 1924 by the Sydney and Suburban Blue Medal Co Ltd on Prospect Hill southside. In 1924, the Sydney and Suburban Blue Metal Quarries began to construct the Widemere Quarry Line, a narrow gauge railway line, to connect the Booth mine (owned by the Booth brothers James and John) with the Main Southern Line at Fairfield railway station to the company's quarry on the southern part of Prospect Hill.[4]

When the railway line was established in October 1925, the company did not possess a locomotive engine, while the New South Wales Government Railways had sustained a service. In 1927, the company was loaned a 4-6-4 tank engine by the New South Wales Government Railways, and in that year the engine 0-6-0 was bought from the South Maitland Railway and converted to a tank engine, before being scrapped in 1934, and replaced by a 2-6-2. A narrow gauge (.690 m) line in the quarry had wagons that were loaded with bluestone (blue metal) and descended into the crusher, before they were placed aboard a conveyor belt that transported the metal to the containers packed onto wagons and taken to Fairfield. The railway line was discontinued on 2 June 1945 (and was sold) due to the scarcity of rolling stock, though motor lorries for the transport of blue metal were developed.[4]

Route

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The railway running along The Horsley Drive (formerly Smithfield Street) and Dublin Street, Smithfield.

The light rail launched at the Fairfield station goods grounds and followed a route beside public streets. After the rail initiated, it curved in a wide curl over The Crescent into Court Road (formerly Smithfield Street) and ran alongside The Horsley Drive (formerly Smithfield Street), before crossing Cumberland Highway (formerly Liverpool Road). Going west, it made an extensive turn beyond the meadows just opposite of Smithfield Cemetery to Dublin Street at Smithfield. Halfway through Dublin Street (near Chifley Street, previously Water Street) it headed northwest over Gipps Street, near Redfern Street. The railway curved left (or west) across the paddocks and into shallow cutting and turned right as it ran beside the general alignment of Cordeaux Street and Hassall Street. Afterwards, it altered north over the water supply pipelines, where it reached Widemere Road and crossed over Prospect Creek on a wood-framed trestle bridge viaduct.[2] The line then concluded in the quarry on two loop sidings and a junction at Prospect, just south of the Prospect dolerite intrusion.[4]

Even though the railway line was placed on public streets, Fairfield City Council still ardently wanted the company's business and therefore included a footpath along the present-day The Horsley Drive (which was Smithfield Street then) to cater for both pedestrians and the steam trains. The line had some engineering difficulties excluding a precipitous rise on The Horsley Drive between Smithfield Road and Dublin Street, and so the trains were regularly divided into two sections. The railway bends were sharper than ordinary on public roads and some were limited to a 160.9 metres radius, and so the trains had to ride very slowly when curving.[3]

Impact

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The steam trains passing the main street of Smithfield (what is now The Horsley Drive) were a feature of the town's everyday life and there was no record of any deaths, serious injuries or major derailments, although flares from the engines usually started grass fires and some residents had hoses to extinguish the fire.[2] Those living proximate to the railway route found the trains to be a hassle, especially when the black smoke from the steam trains became an ongoing problem for the clotheslines at Smithfield, where residents brought their laundry off the clotheslines when a train passed by to evade the soot.[3]

Moreover, Smithfield residents usually had to move their parked horses and carriages out of the train's line. The trains were also known to frighten the horses and cows in the pastures, and as well as visitors who were not aware of the railway line. Customers at the Victoria Hotel were told to move their carriages and carts off the rail. Despite the nuisances, residents still tolerated the railway because the trains ran infrequently and were rarely involved in any serious incidents.[3] Children were often seen jumping on the moving wagons and adults frequently hitched a ride on the trains to get to Fairfield by dangling on the sides of the mineral wagon.[4]

In the years after its closing, the railway line crossing The Crescent at Fairfield was still observable, but then it was gradually concealed after land development and was consequently buried beneath road bitumen. In Smithfield, at the Hassall Street-Widemere Road zone, residue of the embankments and wood trestles were perceivable until land reclamation obscured any traces of them.[4] Nonetheless, there are some remains of the line near Widemere Road and Prospect Creek around 280 metres (920 ft) south from the Widemere Recycling Facility (Boral), which have a historical significance.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Widemere Quarry Line". NSWrail.net. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Lost Railways: Widemere Quarry Line". Visit Sydney Australia.com.au. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d Stephen Gapps (2009). "Cabrogal to Fairfield City: A History of a Multicultural Community". Wakeley, New South Wales: Fairfield City Council. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Karina Hall (2009). "The Widemere Quarry Branch". NSWRail.net. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  5. ^ Kate Cox and Mina Aynsley (29 May 2015). "Widemere Recycling Facility" (PDF). Environmental Management Group Australia. Retrieved 21 July 2025.

Bibliography

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