When approaching the New South Wales town of Cootamundra from Wallanbeen, it is easy to miss this wonderful, abandoned heritage-listed railway station located on the outskirts of town beside the Olympic Highway. The heritage-listed former railway complex on the Lake Cargelligo line at Cootamundra, was abandoned as a station because of the change of proposed route for the main southern line.
The station opened in 1911, but has been closed since 1983 when passenger services along the branch were withdrawn, although freight service continues. It is one of the finest structures from the Edwardian period of railway building and is a good example of redundancy taking place not long after the time of construction. The building was used for many years as offices after its original purpose was changed.
The station complex consists of a double-storey, type 11 brick station building and brick-faced platform as well as a former refreshment room. A signal box is located at the western end of the platform, the yard has been removed and the main line reduced to carrying the most basic of traffic.
On 1 September 1893, the 38 mile branch line from Cootamundra to Temora via Cootamundra West opened for traffic, however the station buildings at Cootamundra West were opened nearly twenty years later, on 22 March 1911. The branch line to Temora was later extended to Lake Cargelligo. Cootamundra West railway station closed in 1989, around the same time as the closure of Temora station.
The abandoned water tower and turntable at Lake Cargelligo
The Temora–Roto railway line is a partly closed railway line which branches from the Lake Cargelligo line at the town of Temora and travels west through the northern part of the Riverina to the towns of Griffith and Hillston. A connection to the Broken Hill line created a cross-country route, although this was never utilised to its full potential, and the line beyond Hillston was built to low grade 'pioneer' standards.
The line, used primarily for grain haulage, opened in stages in the 1920s, and is today closed beyond Hillston. Passenger services were operated by CPH type railmotors from 1926 until 1974 when services were withdrawn between Griffith and Hillston. Services between Temora and Griffith continued until November 1983 when they too were withdrawn and replaced by road coach services (services continued between Griffith and Junee via Narrandera until 1986).
Griffith station is the only passenger station that remains open, and although this line via Temora is the shortest connection to Griffith, passenger trains now operate only over the longer route via Narrandera, as this line travels through larger population centres. The section between Cootamundra and Stockinbingal forms part of the cross country line between the Main South and Broken Hill line, which allows goods trains to bypass Sydney.
In December 2007, flooding washed away several sections of track between Ungarie and Lake Cargelligo rendering the track unpassable. The rail line was repaired between Ungarie and Lake Cargelligo, rendering the tracks open.
Cootamundra railway station
Cootamundry, as it was originally known, was surveyed and a plan of the proposed village was drawn up by surveyor P. Adams in 1861 on a site that was originally the horse paddock of John Hurley's station. The first town lots were sold in 1862. Like many other towns in the Riverina, Cootamundra's population increased with the brief gold rush of the 1860s. By 1866, the village had a population of 100, a post office, a police station and two hotels. The succeeding decades saw the triumph of sheep over cattle particularly on the saltbush plains at the western end of the region. The corollary of this pastoral expansion was the clearing of much of the bush, the sinking of wells, the building of dams for stock and the systematic fencing of paddocks.
Cootamundra railway station
The rail network helped in the growth of farming industries. Cootamundra's train station, linking into the main southern railway that links Sydney and Melbourne, opened in 1877. The development of Cootamundra was slow and steady and it was gazetted on May 20, 1884 as a municipality of 3010 acres. The town was finally gazetted as Cootamundra in 1952, changed from the official name of Cootamundry by which it had been known since 1860. The locals had always used the name Cootamundra. It became a quiet yet prosperous agricultural community. Today, Cootamundra has a population of around 7500 in the whole shire with a further 2000 in the surrounding district.
The contract for construction of a single line from Yass Junction to Cootamundra was awarded in 1874 and the line opened in 1877. The line extended to Bethungra (1878), Junee (1878), Bomen (1878), Wagga Wagga (1879), Gerogery (1880), Albury (1881) and the River Murray (1883). Duplication of the line between Wamba and Cootamundra North was completed in 1917, between Cootamundra North to Cootamundra South in 1943, and Cootamundra South to Tanyinna in 1942.
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