Stanwell Park railway station is located on the South Coast railway line in

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 seaside village of

Stanwell Park Stanwell Park is a coastal village and northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is the northernmost point of the Illawarra coastal strip and lies south of Sydney's Royal National Park. It is situated in a small valley bet ...

opening on 23 December 1901, relocating to its current location on 10 October 1920.

Buildings and railway history

The original rail line followed what is now

Lawrence Hargrave Drive Lawrence Hargrave Drive, part of the Grand Pacific Drive, is a scenic coastal road and popular tourist drive connecting the northernmost suburbs of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, to Wollongong, in the south, and Sydney, in the north ...

, curving around the southern headland and through

. The station opened on 14 March 1890 at its original site opposite Station Street under the footbridge. To the north the line followed Chellow Dene Avenue to the Otford Tunnel through Bald Hill. A platform was provided on the eastern side on 24 April 1890, and was moved to the western side to make room for a crossing loop which opened on 23 December 1901. Station buildings were added on 4 June 1903 and a signal box on 17 May 1909. A second platform was provided on 13 July 1909, and the footbridge over the station installed on 9 October 1911. To the north a steep grade of 1 in 40 faced northbound trains almost all the way to

Otford Otford is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It lies on the River Darent, north of Sevenoaks. Otford's four churches are the Anglican Church of St Bartholomew in the village centre, the Otford Methodist Churc ...

. This combined with the long Otford Tunnel meant that many trains were divided at Stanwell Park and hauled through to Otford or

Waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

in stages.

Refuge siding A refuge siding is a single-ended, or dead-end, siding off a running line, which may be used to temporarily accommodate a train so that another one can pass it. For example, a refuge siding might be used by a slow goods train to allow a fast passen ...

s were provided for northbound trains at Stanwell Park from 17 December 1912 so that the rear portion of divided trains no longer had to be left on the main line. In 1920, the original single line was replaced with a double track deviation. The deviation avoided the Otford Tunnel and steep grades by tracing around the Stanwell Park amphitheatre at a higher level, and the present station was constructed. The new line featured an eight span, long, high curved viaduct over Stanwell Creek south of the station which required over three million bricks in its construction.

Platforms and services

Stanwell Park has two side platforms and is serviced by

NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary interc ...

South Coast line The South Coast Line is an intercity rail service operated by NSW TrainLink that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line to . Th ...

services travelling between

and

Port Kembla A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

. Some peak hour and late night services operate to Sydney Central,

Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Waverley. Bondi Junction is a largely comme ...

and

Kiama Kiama () is a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra. One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. Kiama features several popular surfing beaches and caravan parks, and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants ...

Transport links

Premier Charters operates two routes to and from Stanwell Park station: *2: to

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 wate ...

via

Thirroul Thirroul () is a northern seaside suburb of the city of Wollongong, Australia. Situated between Austinmer and Bulli, it is approximately 13 kilometres north of Wollongong, and 73 km south of Sydney. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and ...

*15: to Helensburgh station

References

External links

*
Stanwell Park station details
Transport for New South Wales {{Transport for New South Wales railway stations, South Coast=y, state=collapsed Buildings and structures in Wollongong Railway stations in Australia opened in 1890 Railway stations in Australia opened in 1920 Regional railway stations in New South Wales