Ropes Creek railway line, Sydney
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The Ropes Creek Line is a closed railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia.
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[edit] History
The Ropes Creek Line was named after a nearby creek bearing the same name. Its main purpose was to transport military ammunitions and munitions factory workers to and from St Marys during World War II. The line opened from St Marys station to Dunheved on the 1 March 1942 and Dunheved to Ropes Creek on the 29 June 1942. When electrification arrived in the 1950s, a plan was made to include electrifying the Ropes Creek Line. While the line was being electrified, a new station was built and opened on the 2 September 1957 and named Cochrane. Towards the end of train operation on the line, there were freight wagons shunted into the Sims Metal plant which is about 2 kilometres from the junction with the Main West line and one passenger train in the morning and one in the afternoon was the norm. This train was mostly formed by a 4 car single deck suburban train locally known as a Red Rattler.
The line was closed to passenger rail traffic with a down turn of passengers in the early 1980's but stayed open to freight traffic for Sims Metal, but when this was then switched to road traffic the line closed. The line then laid idle for a few years, but with major trackwork around Penrith the line was reopened so suburban trains could be stabled at Dunheved in the 4 track yard plus in platform 2 or the Down Branch track. After trackwork was completed at Penrith the line was then closed forever on the 22 March 1986 with an enthusiasts special and not long after that the overhead power supply and most of the copper components of the overhead catenary were removed.
A compound was constructed on the down branch and down No. 1 siding, and 2 suburban train carriages where stored there for use by the NSW Fire Brigade for training purposes, the first was Comeng motor car C3866 and the second was Goninan Tangara car N5127. Pictures here These cars and the compound didn't last long because local vandals destroyed both carriages. Rails on the branch were still there in 1996 but by 2001 the rails were starting to be lifted, the first part of the line to be lifted was the area outside Sims Metal for the extension of Christie St between Dunheved Rd & across South Creek, outside Sims Metal. The next part wasn't lifted but was covered with tar and concrete, was the Links Rd level crossing.
[edit] Today
Remaining structures at Dunheved are the footbridge, island platform and platform steps. The formerly electrified line, which boasted 3 stations, now has no track beyond Christie St in Dunheved. Owing to the Campbelltown to St Marys (Cumberland Line) trains now operating in peak hours only and terminating at Blacktown, and the abolition of The River (the St Marys to Wyong service), there is now no requirement for the electrified storage sidings on the former Ropes Creek Line. Overhead wiring between the points on the Up Main to the Up Storage Sidings and the electric train stop boards has been removed, so no electric trains will ever visit the line under their own power.
A satellite view of the line north of Link Rd (Dunheved) on NSWRail Maps 22 April 2008 shows that the urban sprawl has swallowed up the site of Cochrane Railway Station under Ropes Crossing Blvd and has Ropes Creek Railway Station under threat of extinction with a lot of earth work under way with construction of local roads with the expansion of the new suburb of Ropes Crossing well under way.
[edit] Station Buildings
The station buildings along the line were build from different materials.
- Dunheved was a prefabricated concrete building which the Station Masters office/Booking Office was destroyed by fire when vandals broke in and set it on fire (date is currently unknown). It had a 30 lever frame to operate signals and points.
- Cochrane This station was classed as unattended with no booking office facilities and with a roadway bridge over the middle of the station it and had a waiting room on platform 1 (up branch) and awnings over both platforms.
- Ropes Creek The station was of weatherboard construction, commonly used at the time by the NSWGR. It had a 35 lever frame to operate signals and points.
