Celebrations were held at Bowral Station recently to mark its 150 years of railway services.
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Between 1863 and 1869 contractors built the Great Southern Railway in sections from Picton to Goulburn. The Mittagong to Sutton Forest (Moss Vale) section was completed in December 1867 and, where the line traversed the Wingecarribee Flats, Bowral Station was built.
It originally consisted of a small platform with a modest booking office, waiting room and residence, located slightly north of the present main building. Nearby was a goods shed and level crossing. The line arrangement consisted of one track (now the Down track) and a refuge loop.
Once the railway opened, the Southern Highlands attracted many new residents and became a popular holiday destination. Bowral grew and prospered with hotels and boarding houses catering for visitors. In 1892 Bowral Station was provided with a larger platform and an elegant, Victorian building, still in use today, housing the booking office and waiting room.
In 1886 a major railway catastrophe occurred just north of the station. Had it resulted in fatalities, it would be well-remembered today. Fortunately, however, no one was killed, although 16 people were injured.
Shortly after midday on Saturday, May 8, 1886, a tourist train from Sydney collided with the engine of a goods train which was still on the main line. The Bowral Free Press and Sydney Morning Herald covered the story in their Monday editions. Edited extracts follow here.
The Herald reported that a serious railway collision had occurred on the Southern line. The No 7 down tourist train from Sydney, and an up goods train, drawn by No 44 engine, ran into each other at a spot 300 yards north of Bowral Station, where the goods train was shunting. “The semaphore, it appears, showed the danger signal at the time. The engine-driver of the goods train saw the tourist train approaching, and he tried to get his train off the main line, but the load was too heavy to be shunted back on to the loop line in time, and the engine of the tourist train came into collision with the engine of the goods train.”
“The locomotive of the tourist train lifted the engine of the latter, and threw the tender off the line. One of the goods trucks was capsized, and this threw several other trucks off the rails. Two carriages of the passenger train telescoped. Several passengers were injured, some being seriously hurt. The engines of the tourist and goods train, together with the two telescoped carriages, were smashed up. It was exceedingly fortunate that the train did not go over the bridge, or the loss of life would have been terrible.”
The local paper provided a similar description with some additional colourful details. “The tourist train came flying along and dashed into the engine of the goods train with terrific force. The driver and fireman of the goods train jumped from their engine just before the trains struck, and they probably saved their lives by so doing. The concussion was painfully severe; and the passengers in the train, many of whom were collecting their bags and cloaks, preparatory to alighting at Bowral station, were thrown down in all directions.”
The tourist train consisted of four saloon carriages, a second-class carriage and a brake van. The second-class carriage was smashed in at one end. The Bowral Free Press declared it was almost miraculous that the carriages, which came to a dead-lock right on the bridge, were not thrown headlong to the ground 25 feet below. “Had this happened, nothing could have prevented the occupants from being crushed. Never before in the history of railway travelling in the colony has there been so narrow an escape from a fearful railway disaster.”
“There was utmost consternation among the passengers. Looking out of the windows there was the great gap between them and the road below, and in the fright it was naturally thought the whole train would go over the precipice.”
Crowds gathered at the scene, and the work of assisting passengers from the carriages on the bridge was commenced. This required great care, the bridge being no wider than the rails. While most had received just a fright and a shaking, there were 16 people with injuries, some serious.
- Berrima District Historical & Family History Society – compiled by PD Morton. Part 1 of a 2-part series. To be continued.