Regent Street railway station

Regent Street was a railway station on Sydney's Rookwood Cemetery railway line. Funeral trains departed from the station, being bound for Rookwood Cemetery. The station found later use as a part of Sydney Yard. The ornate station building is still standing on the western side of Sydney Yard, close to Central railway station and Railway Square.

History

The station opened as Mortuary on 29 June 1869. At some point, its name was changed to Regent Street, after the street on which it is located.^[1] It has also been referred to by different names, including the Necropolis Receiving Station and the Mortuary Station.^[2] The station was built as part of the larger Rookwood Cemetery line. It was completed on 22 March 1869 but had been used since 1 January 1869.^[3] It was also one end of the service that ran to the Woronora General Cemetery in Sutherland, located south of Sydney, and for trains heading to Sandgate Cemetery in Newcastle.

This and the Receiving House station at Rookwood Cemetery were designed by colonial architect James Barnet using elements from the Venetian 13th century Gothic style. Principal sculptors Thomas Ducket and Henry Apperly worked on the elaborate carvings that were a feature of the stations, including angels, cherubs, and gargoyles.^[3] Although both buildings were designed to look like churches, both in structure and in the symbolic elements that adorned them, they were never used as places of worship.^[4]

From 14 March 1938, the station found a new use as a platform for horses and dogs. From February 1950, it was used as a platform for parcels.^[1] It was restored by the State Rail Authority in 1981. By this time it had also been classified by the National Trust of Australia and the Australian Heritage Commission and made part of Permanent Conservation by the Heritage Council of NSW. The cost of restoring the site was approximately A$600,000. It was reopened on 21 April 1985 by Neville Wran.^[2]

From 1986 to 1989, a pancake restaurant, the 'Magic Mortuary' operated there, using railway carriages to house the diners.^[2] Subsequently, the station has occasionally been used as a venue to launch special train services and informative displays,^[2] and as a hired function centre.

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} How & Why of Station Names: meanings and origins... (2nd ed.). State Rail Authority of New South Wales. 1982. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Oakes, J. (2002). From Central Sydney. pp. 58-77. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Singleton, C.C. (1989). The Rookwood Cemetery Line. Society of Australian Genealogists, NSW. 
4. ^ Buckle, E. G. (1987). A station of the cross. Ainslie, Canberra: All Saints Anglican Church. 

Image gallery

Neighbouring stations