Camden railway line

A C30 class steam locomotive leads the 'Camden Tram' towards the first grade after departing from Campbelltown

Camden Branch Line
Legend km Station 0 Main South line at Campbelltown Maryfields Kenny Hill Currans Hill Narellan Grahams Hill Kirkham Elderslie Nepean River Camden

The Camden railway line is a closed railway line between Campbelltown and Camden in the southwestern outskirts of Sydney, Australia. The passenger service was also known as the 'Camden Tram'.

History

The Camden railway line was designed as a light railway and construction of the line started in 1881 the line opened on 10 March 1882 and ran between Campbelltown and Camden. The line was originally operated with Baldwin Steam Tram Motors, but these proved unsatisfactory and small 0-6-0 saddle tank locomotives were then used. The line carried freight and passengers but was rarely busy. From 1901 the line was upgraded to railway standard and typically operated by an E class (later Z20 class locomotive in the 1924 reclassification of locomotives) 2-6-4 side-tank locomotives. Starting in the 1950s the usual locomotive power on the Camden Branch Line was provided by C30 class locomotives. Passenger trains typically ran with a CCA type end-platform carriage, usually boosted in capacity by various independent carriages when the occasion demanded.

Due to the steepness of the ruling gradient of 1 in 19 (reported to be the steepest grade used by adhesion locomotives in Australia) between Campbelltown and Kenny Hill, there were often multiple attempts made at ascending the grade. Passengers would sometimes have to disembark from the train and walk alongside it, leaving their bags on board. When trains could not successfully ascend the hill, the train would be divided and the second half of train (invariably the part where the passengers were carried) would be left standing on the line until the first half of the train had been stowed at Campbelltown. Such delays on the line were a source of annoyance and inconvenience for passengers. The main source of income for the line was the coal loader at Narellan and the Dairy Farmers Milk Co-operative depot at Camden. The line closed on 1 January 1963.^[1]

Traces of the original line's route can still be seen along looking up Kirkham Lane from Camden Valley Way. The elevated section as it passed through this low-lying area are visible - the nearby Nepean River would flood the land around this area when it burst its banks. Cuttings through Kenny Hill are also visible from parts of Narellan Road near the Mount Annan Botanical Gardens. Photographs of the line are on display in the Camden Historic Society Museum in Camden.

Special working

Every year, on Good Friday, three or four special trains were run from Sydney to Maryfields, to cater for public attendance to the Via Crucis religious ceremony held on the grounds of the Franciscan Brothers monastery near Campbelltown.^[2] This required out-of-the-ordinary working over the branch line, which also included the provision of an additional locomotive at both the front and rear of each train. Maryfields, a platform opposite the entrance to the monastery, had a platform suitable for an 8 or 9-car train.^[3]

Stations and route

The intermediate stations from the Campbelltown end were: Maryfields (formerly known as "Rudds Gate"), Kenny Hill, Currans Hill, Narellan, Grahams Hill, Kirkham, and Elderslie. All of these stations have disappeared without trace.

See also

• Railways in Sydney
• Steepest gradients

References

External links

• Camden Branch - NSWRail.net

Further reading

• Goodbye, Camden Tram Winney, I.K. & anor Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, April 1963
• Oakes, John (William John) (2008), "Chapter 2 - Ups and Downs between Campbelltown and Camden", Sydney's Forgotten Park and Rural Railways (Revised and combined as a single volume ed.), Australian Railway Historical Society, NSW Division, p. 27, ISBN 978-0-9757870-2-1 

Railway lines in New South Wales   Main lines Broken Hill Main Northern Main South Main Western North Coast South Coast   Country branch lines Operational Berrima Binnaway-Werris Creek Blayney-Demondrille Boggabilla Bombala Canberra Cobar Coonamble Grenfell Gwabegar Hay Lake Cargelligo Medway Quarry Mungindi Naradhan Newcastle Oaklands Parkes to Narromine Picton-Mittagong loop Pokataroo Sandy Hollow-Gulgong South Maitland Railway Stockinbingal-Parkes Temora-Roto Tottenham Troy Junction-Merrygoen Unanderra-Moss Vale Walgett Warren Yanco-Griffith Closed Ballina Barraba Belmont Boorowa Brewarrina Burcher Camden Captains Flat Corowa Crookwell Dorrigo Eugowra Holbrook Inverell Kunama Kywong Merriwa Molong-Dubbo Morpeth Mount Hope Murwillumbah Newnes Oberon Rand Rankins Springs Richmond Vale Railway Taralga Tocumwal Toronto Tumbarumba Tumut Wallsend Westby   Sydney lines Commuter rail Airport Bankstown Carlingford City Circle Cronulla Eastern Suburbs East Hills Epping-Chatswood Main Suburban North Shore Olympic Park Richmond South West Goods lines Sydney Freight Network Southern Sydney Freight Closed Camden Kurrajong Rogans Hill Ropes Creek Royal National Park Sandown   Proposed or under construction Inland Railway Maldon–Dombarton Sydney Metro Northwest Sydney Metro City & Southwest Western Sydney Freight Line   Tourist & heritage railways Glenreagh Mountain Railway Lachlan Valley Railway New South Wales Rail Transport Museum Oberon Tarana Heritage Railway Richmond Vale Railway Skitube Zig Zag Railway