The North Shore Line, on which Milsons Point is today the first station after crossing the Sydney Harboure Bridge from the city, was opened on 1 January 1890 as a single track between Hornsby and St Leonards. Today it follows the Pacific Highway from Milsons Point to Hornsby, which in turn began as a pathway that followed the ridges north, used by the indigenous people for thousands of years. Until the Harbour Bridge was built, the line ended at an earlier Milsons Point station on Lavender Bay.
No Sunday services operated until the line was extended to the Sydney Harbour foreshore at the first Milsons Point station on 1 May 1893 on Lavender Bay. Transport between this station and central Sydney was by ferry boat.
When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened on 19 March 1932 the new Milsons Point station, which was built into the bridge's northern approaches, came into operation. The North Shore Line was modified so that it went through the new station and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to link with the underground lines of central Sydney.
Milsons Point Railway Station was constructed between 1929 and 1932 as part of the northern approaches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. During its construction it was first referred to as Kirribilli Station, but its name was changed to Milsons Point before its opening.
Milsons Point station was officially opened as part of the larger bridge opening celebrations to roadway, railway and pedestrian traffic. Until then, the North Shore Line finished on Lavender Bay on the site of Luna Park, where a ferry took passengers across the harbor to the City of Sydney. The original line remains as a branch line from near Waverton station, and is used today for storing suburban trains.
The western platforms were connected to the North Shore line with the eastern pair originally used for a tramway service between Wynyard and the northern suburbs. The tramway and its associated platforms were removed in 1958 as part of the conversions of lanes 7 and 8 of the Harbour Bridge to become the Cahill Expressway.
From the western side of Milsons Point station (left hand side when approached from the city) it is a short walk to North Sydney swimming pool, historic Luna Park fairground, the shores of Lavender Bay and Wendy’s Garden, a wonderful maze of plantings down the hillside created by the wife of famous artist Brett Whiteley in memory of her husband.
On the eastern side of the station is the suburb of Kirribilli. Lookouts offer views across the harbour to the Opera House and Circular Quay. Neutral Bay adjoins Kirribilli; it is a pleasant walk through gardens and the old submarine base on Neutral Bay.
The original Milsons Point Railway Station was not in its present location, but on the edge of Sydney Harbour approximately on the site of the present northern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the North Sydney Olympic Pool. This location enabled passengers from the North Shore to transfer directly from steam trains to ferries to reach Circular Quay. It opened as the southern terminus of the North Shore railway line on 1 May 1893. when extended from its previous terminus at St Leonards (opened from Hornsby 1 January 1890).
The site, squeezed between the rock cliffs and the edge of Sydney Harbour was cramped, with two side platforms, one of which was built on piles partly over the water's edge, and three tracks between, including a centre road. Immediately adjoining it to the west was the colonnaded Milsons Point ferry wharf for the ferry service to Circular Quay in the Sydney central business district and tram terminus for the North Sydney cable tramway (opened 22nd May 1886) and subsequently electrified from 11th February 1900.
Lavender Bay, 1905
In 1915, to enable a start on the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge between Milsons Point and Dawes Point, the Government instructed the Railway Commissioners to vacate the station and a new four-platform station was constructed at the site of the boundary fence between the present-day Luna Park and Lavender Bay Sidings. This station was in operation for just seven weeks, from 30 May 1915 to 18 July 1915, as the inconvenience to passengers transferring between ferries and trains was unacceptable. Due to later overcrowding, a third platform was added on 12th December 1920 by removing the centre road track and laying a new track on inland side of the new platform 2. This station remained in use until the site was requisitioned to allow construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Lavender Bay during construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
From 27th April 1924, a new temporary station was brought into use, approximately 300 metres back along the line on the site of the present Lavender Bay car sidings, just beyond the present Luna Park amusement park. It was linked to the street by stairs and three escalators, and to a new adjacent ferry wharf. The escalators at Milsons Point were the first installed in Australia, one of which was transferred to Town Hall station when the temporary station closed. The line from Hornsby to Milsons Point was electrified from 2nd August 1927.
Lavender Bay siding line
When the Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, the section from Waverton that went down to the shores of Lavender Bay and the original Milsons Point station onwards was redesignated as the North Sydney Car Sidings, and is used to store suburban trains during the off-peak period. This single line track branches off the main line just past Waverton station on its North Sydney side. passes through a tunnel and over the Lavender Bay viaduct on its way to the sidings near Luna Park. The tunnel, some 310 metres in length, was opened with the original line in May 1893.
Lavender Bay Railway Viaduct
The parklands surrounding the line to the original Milsons Point Railway Station comprise Clark Park, Watt Park, Quibaree Park, the Lavender Bay Foreshore and a number of smaller green spaces dotted throughout the area. You can spend a couple of hours exploring them all in one day, or take your time to visit each spot one by one. Watt Park is a little bit quieter and more secluded than the rest; it has a nautical-themed childrens'playground.
Clark Park
Watt and Quibaree Parks are separated by a viaduct that carries a section of the original North Shore railway line to Milsons Point. The line was opened in 1890 from Hornsby to St Leonards. Three years later the line was extended to a terminus at the southern tip of Milsons Point where it was met by a ferry on Lavender Bay. When the Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, the section from Waverton onwards was redesignated as the North Sydney Car Sidings, and used to store suburban trains during the off-peak period. This section of single line track passes through a tunnel and over the Lavender Bay viaduct on its way to the sidings near Luna Park. The Lavender Bay tunnel, some 310 metres in length, was opened with the original line in May 1893.
Quibaree Park
Quibaree Park, on the harbour side of the railway tracks, is reached by a series of underpasses. Here you will find an historic slipway which is now Sydney's smallest beach, a small boat ramp and a jetty with stairs. Bring you camera, the views across Lavender Bay to the city are excellent. Wendy's Secret Garden is part of the Parklands.
Wendy's Secret Garden
After returning to Australia after a long period overseas, artist Brett Whiteley moved to Lavender Bay in November 1969, with his then wife Wendy, and painted in a studio downstairs in the house from 1975 to 1981. The ambience of the house and its views of the harbour offered a perfect vehicle for Whiteley's gift at composing works with large, empty spaces, and evoked strong feelings that at last he had come home. Today, the public area at the foot of the house, between Clark Park on Lavender Street and the Lavender Bay railway lines is known as Wendy's Secret Garden.
After the death of her husband in 1992, Wendy channelled her grief and sorrow by transforming a neglected space below their property into a beautiful garden at her own expense. In 2001, she was devastated over the death of her only child, Arkie from cancer. The ashes of Brett and Arkie are buried in the garden at a location that was never disclosed by Wendy.
She continued her work in beautifying the garden as a tribute to her greatest loves in life, Brett and Arkie, as well as her new life of recovering from drug addict. Wendy has also placed some tables and benches for visitors who wish to have picnic with friends or maybe to do some work there like drawing and writing. There are many interesting sculptures in the garden. Some a little artistic and some made of recycled materials. Wendy's garden is filled with a variety of plants, flowers, and trees which are of different shapes, colours and sizes.
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