Temple Court railway station
Temple Court | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | Murrurundi, New South Wales Australia | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 31°45′50″S 150°49′35″E / 31.7638°S 150.8265°E | ||||||||||
| Operated by | Public Transport Commission | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Main North | ||||||||||
| Distance | 353.611 kilometres (219.724 mi) from Central | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | Ground | ||||||||||
| Other information | |||||||||||
| Status | Demolished | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | April 1878 | ||||||||||
| Closed | 20 February 1975 | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
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Temple Court railway station was a railway station on the Main North railway line, serving the outskirts of Murrurundi in the Hunter Region, New South Wales, Australia. The station was opened in 1878 and closed in 1975. No trace of it now remains.[1]
History
[edit]A kerosene shale deposit had been located in early 1862, but the difficult terrain of the Liverpool Ranges provided transport problems. In 1871, a shale mine was started north of the area at Mount Temi.
Temple Court opened in late April 1878, providing the mine and workers with a nearby rail service.[2] However, it was only from 1905 that significant progress was made to develop the deposit. A loop siding, north of Temple Court, was constructed in 1910, as was a short rail line from Temple Court to the site of the shale oil retorts that were operated by the British Australian Oil Company from late 1911 to early 1915.[3][4][5] While the retorts operated, the line carried crude shale oil destined for the company's refinery at Hamilton. It was lifted in 1931.[4] A part of the branch railway's formation, between the existing Main North railway and Pages River, is still discernible, as a curved embankment.[6] Another part of the old railway route is Elizabeth Street in Murrurundi.[7] The station at Temple Court was closed to passenger services on 20 February 1975, and subsequently demolished, with no remains present at the site.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Bozier, Rolfe. "Temple Court Platform". NSWrail.net. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- ^ "Advertising". The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser. NSW. 27 April 1878. p. 1. Retrieved 27 September 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Pells, P. J. N; Hammon, Philip J (2009), The burning mists of time : a technological and social history of mining in Katoomba, WriteLight, pp. 45–47, ISBN 978-0-9775639-6-8
- ^ a b Eardley, Gifford H. (Gifford Henry); Stephens, Eric M. (2015), The shale railways of New South Wales, Redfern, NSW Australian Railway Historical Society New South Wales Division, pp. 211–222, ISBN 978-0-9807721-8-0
- ^ "ARHS NSW Railway Luncheon Club. Notes for the tour to Murrurundi" (PDF). Australian Railway Historical Society. November 2015. pp. 37–39.
- ^ "Satellite View - near former Temple Court railway station". Google Maps. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
- ^ "The Shale Mine - THE ERECTION OF RAILWAY LINE". Murrurundi Times and Liverpool Plains Gazette. 6 December 1907. p. 2. Retrieved 30 August 2022.