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The Widemere Quarry Branch

This article was written by Karina Hall. It was available at one point on the Net, although this is no longer the case. It is provided here with her kind permission.

photograph The Widemere line was one of the State's many privately owned quarry lines. Located at Prospect Hill the Widemere Quarry was one of a number blasted out of the igneous mass. Blue metal has been quarried at Prospect for over a hundred years and in 1901 a new quarry was opened by the Emu Gravel Company on the northern side of the Prospect Hill. This proved such a success that when the Widemere Quarry was opened in 1924 by the Sydney and Suburban Blue Medal Co Ltd on the Southern side of Prospect Hill it was decided to link this new quarry with the Southern Line at Fairfield, some eight kilometres distant.


A major portion of the selected route was along public streets with only a comparatively short length on the line own right of way. The Fairfield terminus was in the goods yard of the station, and from a small siding, the rails curved in a wide arc over the Crescent into Court Road to Horsley Drive. The track was laid on the northern alignment of Horsley Drive through Smithfield to Dublin Street. The rails then made a sweeping turn northwards across the paddocks opposite Smith cemetery. Midway along Dublin Street (near Chifley St), the line curved to the left across the paddocks into shallow cutting than turned right to run along the general alignment Cordeaux Street. Than came another left turn into Hassal Street and it curved right to run alongside Widemere Road before crossing Prospect Creek by means of a timber-framed trestle viaduct. Another bridge crossed the main Sydney water supply's pipes near the entrance to the quarry.


photograph The Widemere line was one of the State's many privately owned quarry lines. Located at Prospect Hill the Widemere Quarry was one of a number blasted out of the igneous mass. Blue metal has been quarried at Prospect for over a hundred years and in 1901 a new quarry was opened by the Emu Gravel Company on the northern side of the Prospect Hill. This proved such a success that when the Widemere Quarry was opened in 1924 by the Sydney and Suburban Blue Medal Co Ltd on the Southern side of Prospect Hill it was decided to link this new quarry with the Southern Line at Fairfield, some eight kilometres distant.

photograph The line terminated in the quarry on two loop sidings and a crossover. There was another narrow gauge (.690 m) line within the quarry, where wagons were filled with blue metal and gravitated to the crusher. It was then put onto a conveyor belt which took the metal to the bins where it was loaded onto wagons and taken to Fairfield.

photograph The line, constructed under the supervision of Mr Johnson, posed few engineering problems except for a steep rise on Horsley Drive between Smithfield Road and Dublin Street. The grade was 1 in 50 going up the hill from Smithfield Road and 1 in 55 when ascending the rise towards Smithfield from Dublin Street. These grades presented such an obstacle that trains were often divided into two sections, one being left while the engine delivered the other and came back later for the second half. Because the railway line had only a short distance of its own right-of-way along the route, the railway curves on public roads were sharper than normal and some were restricted to a 160.9 metres radius (8 chains}. Trains had to proceed very slowly around curves or there was a danger of derailment.


photograph When the line opened, the company did not own an engine and the New South Wales Government Railways maintained a service. In 1927, the NSWGR loaned the company a 4-6-4 tank engine (No 3) and later in the same year an engine was purchased from the South Maitland Railway Company.

This was and old Avonside 0-6-0 saddle tank, built in 1902. It was scrapped in 1934 in a typical quarry style by a few well-placed explosive charges. Another locomotive was purchased from the NSWGR in 1933 and became well known in the district as the 'old 2013 (a 2-6-2 tank engine). This engine hauled the quarry's traffic until tht line was closed in 1945.
To those living near the line, the trains were a nuisance but tolerated because they ran infrequently and were seldom involved in accidents or major derailments. There is record of any fatalities, serious injuries or major accidents caused by trains on the line.
The trains running down the town's main street became a feature of Smithfield's daily life and anecdotes flow freely when older residents recall earlier days:

... Often, the engine driver would have to come into the Victoria Hotel and ask customers to move their sulkies and carts off the line ... Not only would the trains scare the hores and cows in the paddocks but would also frighten the wits out of visitors who did not know of the line ... Children used to jump on the moving wagons or hang on the sides as a daredevil feat.  Adults often did the same thing to get a ride into Fairfield ...When I heard the train coming I would rush out and bring in my washing as the smoke, stem and dust would soil the cloths ... You always made sure a hose was handy as the sparks from the engine often stated grass fires ...


photograph The line was closed on 2 June 1945, mainly due to the shortage of rolling stock but fortunately motor vehicles large enough for the cartage of blue metal had been developed. The railway line was sold and most of the rails and sleepers were soon removed. For many years the rails crossing the Crescent could be seen but surface regarding gradually covered them. In the Hassell Street-Widemere Road area remains of the embankments and timber trestles were long discernible but eventually effects of time and land reclamation have removed all traces of the Fairfield to Prospect Widemere Quarry branch line.


photograph In 1924 a quarry was opened on the Southern side of Prospect Hill almost immediately behind the Prospect Quarry. The stone, after being quarried was loaded into small side tipping trucks on 2ft gauge tracks and gravitated to the jaw crusher just beyond the entrance of the quarry. It was then taken on a conveyor belt to the bins where it was loaded into Government wagons. The side-tippers were taken back to the quarry by horses. This was later superseded by motor lorries.


photograph A private railway was constructed under the supervision of Mr. Johnson and connected the quarry with the main southern railway line at Fairfield a distance of some 5 miles. After leaving the bins, which was served by two loop sidings with a crossover, the line crossed Prospect Creek on a trestle viaduct and ran alongside the Company's road to Hassall St. Here the line turned sharply left and followed that street and cut the theoretical corner cross Hassall and Cordeaux streets. It then curved across the paddocks to cross Dublin-street near Water-street. Located alongside Dublin, for a short distance it then curved sharply left again adjacent to the cemetery and followed Smithfield St, being located on the northern side, for the rest of the distance into Fairfield where it cut across The Crescent and entered the railway yard adjacent to the station.


photograph This line was opened in October, 1925, but as the Company did not have its own engine at that time the traffic was worked by Government engines, mostly standard 2-8-0 goods engines and one cannot help but speculate on the anxious moments when traversing some of those extremely tight curves. (early in 1927 a Government 4-6-4 tank engine, No. 3051 was on loan to the Company and how much more so must the curves have suffered at its hand). However, in 1927 an engine was purchased from the South Maitland Railway CO. It was their No. 3, 0-6-0 saddle tank engine built by Avonside Engine Co. (No. 1436) in 1902. This engine worked the line until a second was photograph purchased from the Government in 1933. This was a 2-6-4 tank engine No, 2013 and was originally built by Beyer, Peacock (No. 2067) as an 0-6-0 tender engine with 4ft. diameter driving wheels and 18in. x 24in. inside cylinders. It was converted to a tank engine in 1909. The Avonside was scrapped in 1934 in typical quarry style by a few well placed explosive charges. The bogie engine continued to work the line until shortage of trucks in 1945 forced the Company to send their product by motor transport. The engine was sold to J, & A. Brown Collieries in 1946 where it was numbered 26. The line was sold and the rails removed and so another railway personality has passed, never again to rattle down Smithfield Street with a couple of urchins clinging to the rear truck.