Gympie North: The station near nowhere

Gympie North Railway Station is an odd northern outpost on Queensland Rail's Citytrain network that sits miles from nowhere at the end of Rocky Ridge Road, 5 km from the heart of Gympie. With Gympie boasting a population of over 18,000 people, the decision to place the train station miles out of town came about in 1988, when Queensland's North Coast Line was straightened and electrified between Brisbane and Rockhampton.

A waiting shuttle bus outside the rather unimaginative entrance to Gympie North Station, February 2016.

Gympie North Station is by no means anything special. The bland, garish pink concrete-sheet building that is spruced up only by an unimaginative curved corrugated iron entrance can best be described as ugly. Perhaps the saying out of sight, out of mind rings true in this northern city.

Gympie North's rather wide platform looking towards the south. Photo February 2016.

The platform at Gympie North is wide, giving the impression that it was perhaps intended to be an island-style platform allowing for trains to pull up on both sides. Only it isn't, and the rails are located on the western side of the station platform. Despite the original track alignment that departed the North Coast Line near Monkland on Gympie's southern outskirts still being in place, the junction for where the old alignment rejoins today's North Coast Line is a little to the north of Gympie North Station. Approaching Gympie from the south over the original alignment, called for trains to tackle the 109 feet climb over the last mile into town, which probably explains why the railway line was moved 5 km to the east of town. Sitting in the bottom of a long man-made cutting, Gympie North Station can truly lay claim to being in the middle of nowhere.

A deserted looking yard and platform at Gympie North in February 2016.

The railway first reached the town of Gympie in 1881, after gold was discovered in 1867. However, the rails didn't come from Brisbane, the Queensland capital some 168 km to the south, as most would have expected. Rather, the railway line first arrived from the port of Maryborough, some 87 km to the north. The line from Brisbane followed soon after in 1891. Gympie has a rich railway history that also lays claim to the 40 km long Mary Valley Branch Line that extended south-west of the city in 1914. So you would think that a new railway station constructed at the same time as Queensland hosting the World Expo in 1988 would have been celebrated with something more than a fibro construction building stuck in the bottom of a hole. Sadly, this important crossing point on Queensland's North Coast Line is exactly that. So with no trains in sight and the hot Queensland sun reflecting off the asphalt platform, I leave Gympie North Station behind, and head towards town to find the real Gympie Station. But as usual, that's a story for another day.

Gympie North was just one of the stations I stopped at in 2014 while travelling 3,362 km by train from Brisbane to Cairns and return to write by book Train Tripping Coastal Queensland. Inside is a station by station guide to the history and humour I unearthed from the window of a train. If you're thinking of travelling by train along Queensland's coast, or just curious as to how Queensland's North Coast Line was pieced together, then from just 99 cents you can download my Award Nominated eBook onto your PC, smartphone, iPad or tablet and turn your next train trip into a real railway adventure of your own.

Available now through my Books page

See also; Nambour: The Sunshine Coast Line

St James: Sydney's abandoned underground Matrix

St James Station lies beneath Sydney's leafy Hyde Park, close to the centre of the city. Opened in 1926, the underground railway station was based closely on London's underground, and almost a century later the green and cream tiles still line the walls on this City Circle Line station. However, St James Station was originally opened as an end terminus station with 4 underground platforms for arriving and departing trains. When the City Circle Line was completed in 1956, the two middle platforms were no longer needed and were simply boarded up, leaving behind ghostly tales of what became of Sydney's abandoned underground tunnels.

The original 1926 ornate wrought iron staircase leads down to St James' platforms. Photo 2015.

The main entrance to St James Station is off Elizabeth Street in the city, where an ornate Art Deco sandstone and iron subway entrance leads beneath the grassy lawns of Hyde Park. The original 1926 wrought iron stair case still leads passengers down from the ticket gates on the mezzanine floor to what appears to be an extremely wide expanse of platform. The truth is, the two middle platform were filled in during the 1990's.

The former edge of the middle platforms is still visible through the pavement. Photo taken 2015.

St James's platforms lie almost directly beneath Hyde Park's Archibald Fountain. The fountain was completed in Paris in 1926, the same year that St James Station was opened, but not unveiled in Sydney's Hyde Park until 1932. 1932 was also the year that the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a second underground railway line with stations at Town Hall and Wynyard was opened a few blocks to the west of Hyde Park. The opening of the North Shore Line across the Harbour Bridge brought to an end plans to use the two middle platforms at St James Station for an underground railway line to the west of the city. Tunnels had also been pre-constructed at St James for a planned Eastern Suburbs Line. When St James Station was connected to Wynyard via Circular Quay to complete the City Circle Line in 1956, the two middle platforms and tunnels were no longer used for regular services. In 1979 the Eastern Suburbs Line was constructed from Town Hall Station instead of following the original 1926 planned route from St James, and the former middle platforms became nothing more than a cavernous pit separating platforms 1 and 2.

The tunnel portals are now bricked up beyond the columns that once stood between the centre tracks. Photo 2015.

Even before the tunnels were boarded up, the two middle platforms filled-in and then finally bricked off from the general public in the early 1990's, the legend of Sydney's lost underground tunnels remained a bit of a mystery. The tunnels for the two former middle platforms extended roughly 250 north and south of St James Station, while another section of tunnels originally built for the Eastern Suburbs Line extended 1.5 kilometres long beneath The Domain. When this tunnel flooded, it formed a 5 metre deep underground lake that measures 10 metres wide and 1 kilometre long. Currently there are plans to use this tunnel as an underground water storage facility for recycled rainwater to irrigate the parklands in Sydney's Domain.

Standing on St James platform is like stepping onto the set of The Matrix. Photo 2015.

But whether you've heard ghostly stories of underground explorers setting off in the darkness to explore St James's abandoned tunnels, or war-time stories from the days when the incomplete tunnels were used as air-raid shelters and radio bunkers for war-time operations in the Pacific. The history of this underground London-esque railway station remains on display for any passenger boarding or alighting from a train at St James. And if you think the green and cream tiled station platform looks familiar, you're right. It was used for filming in the 2003 movie Matrix Revolutions starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne and Australian actor Hugo Weaving.

Sydney's modern double-deck trains only just squeeze through the tunnels at St James Station. Photo 2015.

Oh, and one other thing that might sound familiar if you've ever caught a train at St James, hold onto your hats in the few moments before the train is due to arrive. With Sydney's fleet of large double-decker trains only narrowly fitting into the underground City Circle tunnels, a strong accompanying rush of wind may be felt ahead of the headlights appearing at the end of the platform. For Sydneysiders its just an everyday part of commuting to and from work. But for a railway adventurer like me, I think its more likely caused by a rush of exhilaration before the train arrives.

St James Station was just one of the many railway stations I visited when writing my Train Tripping Around Sydney eBook. From Kiama to Katoomba and Circular Quay, my 592 km 3 day window-seat adventure is perhaps the cheapest way to experience all the fantastic places that Sydney Trains travel to.

Available now through my Books page

See also; Central: Sydney's Hallowed Railway Station

Central: Sydney's Hallowed Railway Station

Sydney's main railway station is called Central Station and stands opposite Belmore Park on Eddy Avenue on the southern fringe of the city's Central Business District. Opened in 1906 to replace an older, more congested station that once stood between Central and Redfern, it has greeted commuters and train travelers alike for more than a century.

Central Station's grand concourse early on a Sunday morning in February 2015.

Step inside Sydney's Central Station, and you are stepping into one of the world's grandest railway buildings. The arched roof over the station's concourse runs the length of 15 stub-ended platforms that everyday see the arrival and departure of hundreds of interurban, country and interstate trains. A further 10 platforms are accessed by a subway that feed into the underground City Circle and Bondi Junction Lines, and as such Central Station is an important point for passengers to change trains.

The John Whitton Memorial inside Central Station's concourse, 2015.

Standing in the concourse of Central Station is the memorial to John Whitton, the man considered to be the Father of the New South Wales Railways. Sydney Trains has a map of Central Station that is available here. During his reign as Engineer-in-Chief, he oversaw the growth of the railway network in the state from a mere 37 km of track to 3,538 km of rail line. Much of the railway line throughout the state of New South Wales and around Sydney that we travel on today, was a result of this man's incredible foresight.

A 32 class steam locomotive with a special to the NSW Rail Museum at Thirlmere. Sun 1st March 2015.

Central Station on a quiet Sunday morning is a lot easier to navigate and admire the ornate sandstone brickwork and carvings that make this railway station so impressive. Weekends are also the most likely time to stumble upon a steam train simmering at Central's famous platform 1. Arriving early for breakfast before catching our train to the Blue Mountains, I was lucky enough to photograph a 32 class steam locomotive at the head of a steam excursion special to the NSW Railway Museum at Thirlmere.

Sydney Trains' double-decker commuter trains are unique. No other city in Australia has trains like these! March 2015.

Unlike Platforms 5 to 25, platforms 1 to 4 are mainly used for long distance country and interstate trains, and the transcontinental Indian-Pacific which has been pulling out of Central's hallowed Platform 1 since the 23rd February, 1970. As such, you don't have to tap on with your Opal Card (a rechargeable travel card needed to travel aboard any Sydney Trains service) to gain access to the platforms, making it possible to wander platforms 1 to 4 with a camera to capture images of Sydney Trains' fleet of air-conditioned double-deckers. No other city in Australia operates double-deck trains, making Sydney Trains' fleet unique in this part of the world. However, like all visitors to Central Station, I had a train to catch. My wife Denise and I were headed to Katoomba for the day and had to make our way to platform 7.

Central Station by night, taken March 2015.

After spending 3 days riding trains around Greater Sydney to write my book Train Tripping Around Sydney, this is the view we came back to each night; Central Station and its 75 metre tall clock tower bathed in golden light. Staying as a guest at Wyndham's Sydney Suites on the corner of Wentworth Avenue and Goulburn Street made for a convenient location to set off and explore the city. Or take a train to Kiama, Katoomba and the Hawkesbury River, all of which are featured in my book Train Tripping Around Sydney. Packed with interesting facts, figures and funny stories, it is the perfect window-seat accompaniment to exploring Sydney from the window of a train.

Available now through my Books page

See also; Circular Quay: Sydney Harbour's Railway Station