Leura: some Blue Mountains air
The Blue Mountains Line is a popular one for day trippers from Sydney to escape the city for some fresh mountain air. So when visiting Sydney for 3 days to write the next book in my Train Tripping Series, I naturally couldn't go past catching an Intercity train up into the Blue Mountains to visit the charming little village of Leura.
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| Leura Railway Station as viewed from the overpass at the eastern end of the platform. The station building still looks the same as it did back in 1902. |
Leura Railway Station first opened in 1890, some 22 years after the Main Western Line first passed through town in 1868. The station building that you step off at today however, dates back to 1902 when the Main Western Line was first duplicated and is nestled in a rock cutting on the side of a mountain ridge. At a height of 3,241 feet above sea level, Leura enjoys a cool climate and even the occasional snowfall during the winter months, making it a perfect location to enjoy a weekend escape from Sydney.
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| That's me madly scrawling notes for my next book before our train to Katoomba arrives. Leura Station 2015. |
The historic Leura Mall is located at the top of the stairs at the eastern end of the platform, and breaking my journey to Katoomba here for an hour gave me just enough time to enjoy a quiet cup of coffee with my wife and a short wander through the enticing gift shops before we had to be back at the station for the next train.
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| An Intercity double deck V set arriving at the Blue Mountains station of Leura. Our next stop is Katoomba. Photo 2015. |
While the best thing about riding a train up into the Blue Mountains is no doubt the scenery from the train window, another surprise about riding a Sydney Trains service on a Sunday was their Super Sunday Fare. We paid no more than $2.50 each for our return trip to Katoomba, making a train ride to the Blue Mountains one of the most affordable sightseeing excursions you could ask for when visiting Sydney. The train ride to Leura was definitely one of the highlights of my Blue Mountains adventure in my book Train Tripping Around Sydney.
See also; Katoomba: Blue Mountains by train
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