Farley railway station was a railway station serving the former rural village of Farley on the Main North line in New South Wales. It opened on 2 July 1860[1] as Wollombi Road. It consisted of two side platforms with a substantial station building . In 1882, it was renamed Farley.
It closed to passenger services on 20 September 1975, with the disused station buildings being subsequently demolished. Only the platform face remains.
Farley | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | Farley, Maitland, New South Wales | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 32°43′38″S 151°31′15″E / 32.7272°S 151.5207°E | ||||||||||
Line(s) | Main North | ||||||||||
Distance | 195.700 kilometres from Central | ||||||||||
Platforms | 2 | ||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Structure type | Ground | ||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||
Status | Demolished | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 2 July 1860 | ||||||||||
Closed | 20 September 1975 | ||||||||||
Previous names | Wollombi Road (1860-1882) | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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History
The Main North railway line had until 1860, terminated at High Street railway station. This was extended on 2 July 1860 as far as Lochinvar railway station, including the opening of Wollombi Road on this same date. In 1882, Wollombi Road was renamed to Farley to reflect the name of the nearby village.
On 8 March 1938, a night officer at the station, Cyril Clive Maher was shot through the head and killed by three teenagers, Thomas Gibson, Kemmell Coleman and William Date. A post-mortem revealed that the bullet had caused fragments of lead and bone to scatter throughout Maher's brain. The trio was subsequently arrested in relation to Maher's murder.[2]
By the 1960's, patronage had significantly decreased, and the station was officially closed on 20 September 1975, before being demolished.
Proposed Reopening
In 2008, Save our Rails, a Newcastle rail lobby group, suggested opening a new railway station in the Farley area to improve rail access to Newcastle.[3]
References
- ^ Farley station, NSWrail.net, accessed 11 August 2009.
- ^ The Braidwood Dispatch 25 March 1938, The Braidwood Dispatch, Trove, accessed 21 May 2024.
- ^ Hejduk, N. Rally for the rail Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Newcastle Star, 12 November 2008.