Moss Vale railway station is a heritage-listed railway station on the

Main South line The Main South Line, sometimes referred to as part of the South Island Main Trunk Railway, is a railway line that runs north and south from Lyttelton in New Zealand through Christchurch and along the east coast of the South Island to Inverca ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It serves the town of

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has several h ...

. It opened on 2 December 1867 as Sutton Forest, being renamed in 1877. It was added to the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

on 2 April 1999.

History

Moss Vale station opened as Suttons Forest on 2 December 1867. It was the terminus of the line until the extension to

Marulan Marulan is the traditional lands of the Gundungurra people. It is a small town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in the Goulburn Mulwaree Council local government area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highw ...

on 6 August 1868. The station was renamed to Moss Vale in 1877. In March 1999, a refuelling and stabling facility for Endeavour railcars was built to the north of the station.

Platforms & services

Moss Vale has an island platform with two sides. It is serviced by NSW TrainLink

Southern Highlands Line The Southern Highlands Line is an Intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Macarthur, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands regions of New South Wales. First operating in 1869, the service runs from across the ...

services from Campbelltown, morning services to Sydney Central and 1 early morning & evening services to

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

. It is also serviced by NSW TrainLink Xplorer and XPT long-distance services from Sydney to Canberra, Griffith and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Transport links

NSW TrainLink also operate road coach services to

Bundanoon Bundanoon is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire, on Gandangarra and Dharawal Country (where these two countries meet). It is an Aboriginal name meaning "place of deep gullies" and was forme ...

and

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wa ...

from the station forecourt.

Description

The original station building is a second-class brick building built by W. & A. Elphinstone in 1867. Alterations were made in 1890, including improvements to the Governor's waiting room and chandeliers. A two-storey hotel and refreshment room was added in 1891. The awning to the down platform was added in 1914 and the brick booking office in 1915. Alterations were made to the refreshment room in 1919, involving the conversion of the bar to a dining room and the construction of a new bar. The station has an unusually wide island platform, which is connected to the station entrance and the street by a pedestrian overpass. The platform included a garden and a private dining room for Governor Belmore who spent the summers in nearby

Throsby Park Throsby Park is a heritage-listed homestead at Church Road, Moss Vale, Wingecarribee Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1820 to 1836. The property is owned by the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, but is leased to ban ...

from 1870 to 1872. The dining room had to be big enough for a cook to prepare simple dishes and for a footman to serve. The current up platform was built in brick and lengthened in 1882. The new down platform was constructed in 1914 following duplication, with road bridge access and car turning area, specifically to enable Governor

Gerald Strickland Gerald Paul Joseph Cajetan Carmel Antony Martin Strickland, 6th Count della Catena, 1st Baron Strickland, (24 May 1861 – 22 August 1940) was a Maltese and British politician and peer, who served as Prime Minister of Malta, Governor of the L ...

's disabled daughter to access the train. The two-storey hip-roof timber signal box in the yard and the two metal-framed pedestrian bridges both date from 1915. The station precinct also contains a dock platform, road overbridge at the up end, weighbridge and triangle to turn 57 class locomotives. The pedestrian approach from the east side, brick walls and embankment, station forecourt and signs are all included in the station's heritage listing. There is a grassy area at the south end of the station, with picnic tables in between the platforms. A dock platform previously existed at the northern end of Platform 1 for services to

, but this track has since been lifted. Immediately north of the station, is the junction for the Unanderra line.Moss Vale Junction
NSWrail.net The former stationmaster's residence, completed in 1874, was based on a standard design from the office of Commissioner John Whitton. In 1918, the Residence was converted for use as dormitory for female staff employed within the Railway Refreshment Room. An entrance

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

was added in 1926. The Residence was adapted again, in 1952, into two separate apartments for railway staff. The works included the installation of timber partitions, an access cut through the northern wall and new internal door openings. It was leased to the Wingecarribee Shire Council to house the Southern Highlands Regional Gallery in 1994, at which time it saw the erection of a new pergola and a new southern extension, the removal of the eastern Railway outbuildings, and all the internal doors removed for ease of movement through the gallery. It had returned to residential use by 2001.

Heritage listing

Moss Vale is one of the most important station groups in the State. It contains rare examples of early buildings, various later structures, vice-regal buildings, unique entry arrangement, very high quality buildings and the remains of a working yard seen in the signal box and embankments. The early elements of the site are significant buildings in their own right. The site has excellent interiors along with the outstanding architecture and gives many opportunities to demonstrate the wealth and range of railway structures and the importance of rail travel in the past. The site has a strong social historical connection through use by the Governors and is an important focal point of the town of Moss Vale. Moss Vale railway station was listed on the

on 2 April 1999.

References

Bibliography

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Attribution

External links

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Moss Vale station details
Transport for New South Wales {{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, Southern Highlands=y, Southern Region=y, state=collapsed John Whitton railway stations Railway stations in Australia opened in 1867 Regional railway stations in New South Wales New South Wales State Heritage Register Moss Vale, New South Wales Articles incorporating text from the New South Wales State Heritage Register Main Southern railway line, New South Wales