ALBUMS: SPARKS NSW PT2

Hey there spark fans!

One of the consequences of neglecting to catalog over 300,000 photos over the years is that I’m now in full catch-up mode. While I’ve managed to organize thousands of images across various themes here on the blog, there are still many more waiting for their turn in the spotlight.

To tackle this backlog, I’m diving headfirst into sorting and categorizing a large portion of these photos in the coming months.
You can look forward to endless dreary posts focused on locomotives, carriages, infrastructure, trams, and buses—perfect for anyone with even a passing interest in these fascinating subjects. Or not ..... that choice is up to you


I have to admit that sparks were never really on my radar and the vast majority of photographs were either during some special event, or just to pass those endless boring hours waiting for the good stuff to arise.
Of course, as time progressed and the older sets start going to train heaven, I began to regret not getting my rear more into gear and cover more of this guff.
More recently I have actually made an effort to cover the greatly endangered old K and V sets which, I guess, is probably to little to late.
Anyway, it is what it is.
Feel free to enjoy what I do have to share, or more likely to hate given many of the rabid attitudes out there. Either way, thanks for looking.

For Locomotive & Tram - Updates - Status - Photos.

Come have a squiz.

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Once upon a time I used to be semi-living in the fiancée's parents house in Rockdale which gave me cause to regularly be at the railway station.
 For a period you would find a red set (the Zoo Train on at least one occasion) sitting in this old, now removed, siding of a weekday afternoon.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Who got to enjoy a 3 car Y set ride up to Carlingford?

This was one such occasion for me.

Today the red sets are gone, those sidings are also wiped, while the line itself has been converted to light rail.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Y2 has arrived back at Clyde station which was the junction for the former Carlingford and Sandown lines.

Photo: Brad Peadon

S65 approaching Marrrickville station with the second carriage being an old Tulloch built example.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Passing the rather interesting, but architecturally dreary, Macdonaldtown station.

Photo: Brad Peadon

The good ol days when you could hop off one of these fast ol girls and hope on a railcar out along the now abandoned Toronto branchline.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Another abandoned branchline, this time the Warwick Farm Racecourse, with C3340 sitting at the end of set H2 and waiting to take the punters home.

Photo: Brad Peadon

H2 departing the Warwick Farm Racecourse platform.

This was one of the final departures on the last day of operations.

Photo: Brad Peadon

H3 entered the history books as the last train to even depart the Warwick Farm Racecourse branch.

C7500 T4612 T4772 C7488 C7392 T4767 T4627 C7411.

Photo: Brad Peadon

T4612 earlier in the day.

Warwick Farm Racecourse.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Finally, a line that has not yet been abandoned, in fact it was the early days of the East Hills line extension to Glenfield. That's the new Holsworthy station in the background.

B8 is seen headed westward and  I was out for a days photography with the late Bruce Cook.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Only around four cars received this yellow front livery, one of them found here on the front of R21 between Ashfield and Summer Hill.

Photo: Brad Peadon

DJM-8106 leads set V39 into Broadmeadow station late one afternoon.

By chance, she lead our train to Katoomba on a recent day in the Blue Mountains getting these classic trains in their final weeks.

Photo: Brad Peadon

V2 on the Carlingford line again, this time approaching Camellia. It is hard to believe this section is now a modern double track light rail system.

Photo: Carl Millington

Brad Peadon Collection

Many rave on about the original blue fronts being the best livery that the V sets have worn, but for me it was the candy.

Sorry.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Another candy set, this time V19.

Photo: Carl Millington

Brad Peadon Collection

One of the original blue front sets I just mentioned.

V3 is passing over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and about to plunge into the Sydney underground.

Photo: Carl Millington

Brad Peadon Collection

T13 displaying how the Tangara once appeared.

Photo location was atop a big carpark which has since been demolished.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Tangara crossing the Meadowbank bridge during our annual SRF/SMUT combined lineside Christmas party,

These will soon be the eldest sets in the fleet.

Photo: Brad Peadon

H23 stops at Berala station.

Photo: Carl Millington

Brad Peadon Collection

Another blue V set seen passing one of the most beautiful locations on the system.

Clifton on the New South Wales South Coast line.

Photo: Brad Peadon

If you know the Chatswood of today, you will likely be stunned to see what it used to look like.

Tangara T17 back how they originally looked.

Photo: Brad Peadon

H24 touches down at Campsie station with a citybound service.

This line to Bankstown is in the process of being converted to a Metro system and will connect at Sydenham with the current Metro to Tallawong.

Photo: Brad Peadon

B14 also at Campsie, this time headed towards Bankstown.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Sadly the majority of my blue/white carriage shots are back in my earlier days when still enduring an Instamatic camera.

Pretty sure that is a young David Henderson watching set H4 arrive at Milsons Point (first station north of the Sydney Harbour bridge seen in the background).

Photo: Brad Peadon

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The following selection photos were taken by Carl Millington 

and show a Zoo Train tour to interesting

 locations around Sydney.

Above & Below

Helensburgh.

Above & Below

Richmond line.

Above: Mulgrave

Below: Rickabys Creek

Above & Below

Sandown

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Lee Davis & Kevin Medley.

Semi-Retired Foamer

NSW Railways Past & Present

 

Australian Locomotive Rosters

NSW Railways Past & Present

Carlingford / Sandown Railway Archive

Warwick Farm Racecourse branchline.

NSW Standard Suburban Carriage Stock - Wikipedia

New South Wales S Set - Wikipedia

Historic Electric Traction - Website

Check our new Linktree site above for piles of dreary transport entertainment.

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Click HERE for the travel and aviation blog.

#semiretiredfoamer

AMPOL - PAGEWOOD BRANCH - PART 2 - REVISED/ENLARGED

Article: Brad Peadon

THE BRANCH

  The AMPOL (Total) branch wasn’t very long - just 664 metres (2,178 feet) - essentially more of an extended siding. However, this modest stretch held plenty of interest for railway modellers.

  The line branched off just east of today’s Page Street overbridge, with the points facing Marrickville, where it passed through a boundary gate and immediately crossed Ocean Street on a curve. This was the first of two level crossings along the line. At the time, Ocean Street was a major thoroughfare for traffic from Botany and was protected by manually operated Type F flashing lights from 1958.

 These lights likely became obsolete after the Page Street Overbridge opened on December 4, 1979, reducing Ocean Street’s traffic significantly. Remarkably, the derelict remains of these lights persisted into the mid-1990s, possibly until the branch’s closure, when most signage and rail were removed.

  After crossing Ocean Street, the line curved slightly more, traversing the driveway of a nearby house before entering a narrow right-of-way. The track ran between the back fences of Young Street houses on one side and industrial estates on the other. The industrial area was level with Anderson Street, which elevated the branch along much of its length. Beyond the Young Street properties lay the expansive grounds of Davis Gelatin.

 By 1993/94, the closest structure to the railway formation - an office building - was derelict. Today, it has been refurbished and now operates as the Treehouse Restaurant. Although Davis Gelatin’s property spanned from Page Street to Anderson Street, no record of a formal agreement involving the railway line exists.

   The branch continued northeast, passing another warehouse, crossing Baker Street, and entering the AMPOL terminal. This terminal opened in 1955 under the name ‘United Petroleum Ltd’ and underwent several name changes: to ‘Anglo United Petroleum Ltd’ in 1957, ‘Total Oil Products Australia Ltd’ in 1958, and finally, AMPOL in 1984 after purchasing Total. Despite these changes, the branch remains commonly referred to as the ‘Total branch.’

  Baker Street was a quieter place back then, with simpler Type B crossing signage. Since its opening in 1958, the terminal’s yard layout underwent three transformations before its closure, with the last refurbishment occurring in 1994, only a few years before the branch ceased operations.

  See below for the various track layouts.

The State of the Branch in 2025

  Today, very little of the old branch remains visible. Extensive roadwork on Ocean Street has erased most traces of the track, though a small section of rail can still be found on the terminal side of the street, along with the mostly buried base of the former crossing lights.   However, all evidence of the Baker Street crossing, including an aged crossing sign that long outlasted the line, has been obliterated. A shallow cutting still marks the junction, but the rest of the formation has been fenced off, landscaped, and partially developed over.

Looking at the south-east corner of the now obliterated intermediate staff hut which was situated between the junction and Page Street bridge.  

Photo: David Xuereb

The intermediate staff hut again, this time being inspected by the legendary Daven Walters.  

Photo: David Xuereb

Inside the intermediate staff hut showing the staff instrument.   

David Xuereb Collection

Above and below.

Point rodding between the levers and junction points.  

David Xuereb Collection.

Above and below.

Junction points. Ocean Street crossing just beyond that fenceline.  

David Xuereb Collection.

Ok, I admit I had no idea what the thing above actually does, so I decided to ask on the Botany Railway Line SIG and got the following two responses.  

John Pitcher

That would be a drawer lock style releasing device. Basically the Annette key goes in and unlocks another key (drawer key) that is used for the branch.

Ben Dihen

Don’t forget to place the staff in the drawer first otherwise you can’t get the key out.

David Xuereb Collection.

Above and below.

Point indicator at the junction of the branch.   

David Xuereb Collection

Point levers for the branch which is seen diverging to the left.  

Photo: David Xuereb

A recent photo of the former junction from Ocean Street.

Recent road works have obliterated most signs that this was once a railway.  

Photo: Brad Peadon

Above and three below.

The Ocean Street level crossing back when the branch was still in use. The crossing lights, and the activation button on the short pole beside, were not in use.  

Photo above: Brad Peadon

Three below:David Xuereb Collection 

Above and below.

The Ocean Street crossing following major work to remove the remains of the crossing.  

Above is looking towards the terminal, the other being towards the junction.

Photo: Brad Peadon

From Ocean Street the former right of way is seen looking in the direction of the former terminal.  

Access to this section is not possible now.

Photo: Brad Peadon

The very last bit of remaining rail on the entire branch.  

However, it is thought all that across Ocean Street is probably under the tar.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Curve just beyond Ocean Street, looking towards the terminal.

David Xuereb Collection

A wee bit further from the above spot.

David Xuereb Collection

An early shot of an Indian Red 73 class shunting the branch.

Photographer: Unknown. 

Source 'Botany Railway Line SIG'

Above and below.

Gates at the Ocean Street end of the branch.

I can't recall a time I saw these closed during my 90s visits to the line.

David Xuereb Collection

Gates at the Ocean Street end of the branch during removal and remediation work.

Photo: Brad Peadon

Above and below.

Other random branch shots showing lineside structures.

Photos: David Xuereb

The legendary Stephen Miller on a tarred path that ran from the east side of the line to a crossing made of sleepers.

There was no continuation of the path on the west side, and the purpose of it is still unknown.

Photo: David Xuereb

Above and below

Stephen J Miller exploring the branch with a Jumbo visible shunting the terminal in the distance.

Photo: David Xuereb

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The following images, either taken by David Xuereb (ummarked), or are from his collection, show the section through land owned by David Gelatine.

Can't recall why the truck was there.

As the plant had closed, It may have been part of the demolishing process.

David Xuereb Collection

Buildings in the former Davis Gelatine plant before being torn down.

Photo: David Xuereb

Davis Gelatine property to the east of the branch, with the massive Kellogg's plant in the distance.

Photo: David Xuereb

Above and below

More small buildings that were part of the Davis Gelatine plant.

David Xuereb Collection above

David Xuereb below.

Above and below

Davis Gelatine water treatment plant between the railway and Anderson Street.

Photos: David Xuereb.

Pipe between the water treatment plant and main production area.

Photo: David Xuereb.

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Baker Street crossing and terminal.

Factory on south-west corner of Baker Street crossing.

Photo: David Xuereb

Same area today.

Looking across Baker Street and into the terminal.

David Xuereb collection.

Baker Street looking back towards the junction.

Photo: Brad Peadon.

The last surviving railway remnants on Baker Street before they were also removed.

Images: Courtesy of Google Streetscape.

Former rail entrance into terminal from Baker Street.

No trace of this formation still remains.

Photo: Brad Peadon.

Aerial image from the 1937 'Davis Gelatine Review' with the tree line marking out where the railway would eventually run.

Image Source.

The smaller build near the bottom is still there today.

Ampol Terminal in 1985.

At the time there was no loading gantry.

Photo: National Library of Australia 

Full-sized photo and link here.

There be more to come in Part 3.

We would like to hear from anyone who is able to contribute more photos or information on the AMPOL branch for us to include in a future update or possible part 4.
Did you work on it, work at the terminal, shunt train over it, or just take some photos?

Please email us at our alcogoodwin email address.

Botany Railway Line SIG - You're Invited To Join us.

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Thanks to Josh Beveridge, Bradly Coulter, Ben Dihen, Doug Erskine, John Pitcher, Roger Renton, David Xuereb, and the Botany Historical Trust (Eastgardens Library).

Smithston Design & Graphics

National Library of Australia

Google Maps/Earth

Wikipedia

The Story Of The Sydnenham To Botany Railway by Neville Pollard.

 

Botany Railway Line SIG

Botany Historical Trust

Botany Goods Line - nswrail

Botany Duplication Project

Industrial Existence  - Part 1

Davis Gelatine - History At Bayside Council.

Mascot Railway Bridges

Semi-Retired Foamer Travel & Aviation Blog

Australian Locomotive Rosters

NSW Railways - Past & Present

Check our new Linktree site above for piles of dreary transport entertainment.

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Click HERE for the travel and aviation blog.