Type : Station
Line : North Coast Line
Distance from Sydney : 651.860km
Opened : 12 October 1915
Closed : After 1995
Status : Open (station closed), loop in use
Name meaning : After a place in Scotland meaning "the valley surrounded by hills" from glen (valley) and reagh (hill)
Notes : Opened with central interlocked 463 metre loop. The original 91.44 metre platform opened witha modified A5 station building, C2 closet, C1 urinal and E1 cream shed. The yard had a goods shed (dertelict but still standing) and an H1 through type engine shed, coal stage and carriage shed were constructed in 1924 for the Dorrigo branch. A water tank with a 203mm jib bore at the Down end served both the main and branch lines. Water facilities wre out og use in 1966 for the main line and 1963 for the branch line. The derelict water tower which had decayed and was considered a major risk in the working corridor was demolished over the 12th and 13th of July 2019. 14/6/1916 - 18.28 metre turntable installed. December 1924 - loco depot constructed (reduced to out-depot under Casino control 13/12/1958). 2/1/1964 - carriage siding and loco shunting neck removed. 13/4/1974 - crew barracks closed. 10/1/1985 - Dorrigo branch platform removed. The derelict station building still remains as of January 2023 but increasingly presents a risk to the corridor. Glenreagh has a short 772 metre crossing loop, originally 469 metres in length it was extended by 303 metres 10/1/1988.
Glenreagh, 1982 (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh 1982, Greg Lee
Greg states:
Now we go to B & C frames. Several signals at Glenreagh were controlled by two levers; one in the signal box and the other in the outside frame. Both levers had to be pulled for the signal to come off. I have never seen that arrangement anywhere else.
Glenreagh, 1982 (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh 1982 (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh 1982 (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh 1982 (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh 1982 (Greg Lee)
Trial trip of the XPT - shown at Glenreagh in 1981 (Allan Cashin)
Glenreagh, 1995 (Tony Astle)
Bridge over the Orara at Glenreagh, with carriages on it probably bound for Dorrigo (Ted Brewer)
Glenreagh signal gantry (Greg Lee, 1982)
June 1950 - A view of the Glenreagh Railway Station and the flooded Orara River spreading over the flats to the west of the station. Note the floodwaters reaching the western boundary of the railway station yard and coming up to the Sherwood Creek Road railroad crossing.
3028 and three 'L' cars at Glenreagh for the filming of Fields of Fire. The building in front of the CTC hut was a mock-up for the film. I have no idea what the saw dust was for. The house and sheds in the background was the abode of Ken and Mary Hill. Ken was a driver at South Grafton depot. He was an interesting character and I spent many hours in the 'Dog listening to his railway stories. 1986. (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh barracks (Peter Lee)
The dilapidated station at Glenreagh
The dilapidated station at Glenreagh
The dilapidated station at Glenreagh
Glenreagh Station, opened 1915, closed 1974. Branch line to Dorrigo joined the North Coast Line at this location. (Tripmodo)
Glenreagh, 2017 (Brian Leedham)
Glenreagh, 2017 (Brian Leedham)
4446 pulls in with the UP passenger service at Glenreagh. A timeless scene from the early 1980s. (courtesy Allan Black)
1921 - Bridge over the Orara River on the road to Glenreagh station (SLNSW)
Glenreagh, circa 1960 (ABC)
1957 leaves Glenreagh in 1954 leading the tri-weekly mixed goods train to Dorrigo (F Reed)
17th April 1954, 1954 waits at Glenreagh in preparation for the 11.10 mixed to Dorrigo. (N Reed)
Recruiting train at Glenreagh Railway Station, 1916
Glenreagh station (2011, Dave Murchie)
First XPT to Glenreagh (1983?) (Kim Smith)
1919 prepares to depart Glenreagh for Dorrigo, December 1957
Waiting at Glenreagh for the railway picnic train to Coffs. Note the containers in open wagons. These days we still have container traffic, but no longer have general traffic in open wagons. (Greg Lee)
Location of Glenreagh (Six Maps)
Glenreagh in about December 1983 or 1984 with No 11 North Coast Mail at the station (Bob Bell)
Glenreagh, 2022 (Brian Leedham)
Glenreagh, October 2022 (Brian Leedham)
Glenreagh depot, 1948 (State Archives)
Profile train 1904 at Glenreagh in 1935 (obscured) (State Archives)
Greg Lee:
I'm back (woah woah the Monster's back; Dave Warner, 1978).
A very good friend of mind has unearthed some not-before-published photos of the 5088 on the Dorrigo Line on Saturday 30th August 1964. The photos were taken by the NSWGR archivist John Forthsyth and are part of the State Rail photo collection at the State Archives NSW.
I am going to post one a day, with my descriptions of, and comments about the scene.
In this first photo we see an early morning shot of the immaculately maintained platform at the Northern end of Glenreagh station.
Of interest to me is how much "better" people dressed in those days. I am somewhat surprised to see that no one appears to be smoking.
Peter Neve:
Stations of the North Coast Line
Peter Neve · 1 h ·
DORRIGO EXCURSION WITH 5088
I have been asked if I would post some photographs that I have taken of train operations on the Glenreagh-Dorrigo branch line on this Facebook Page. I have travelled only twice on the branch, both occasions being on excursion passenger trains. Although some years after branch dieselisation, steam traction was used on each trip, 5261 on the one and 5088 on the other.
Recent photos posted have been those taken by John Forsyth (JHF) from the State Archives Collection of the trip with 5088. I can support these with my own – both in colour and black & white, unless viewers get sick of them!
Contrary to previous statements, this excursion was not one organised by the Australian Railway Historical Society, but was a side-trip as part of a visit by the NSWR's "Vintage Train" to Murwillumbah and Condong as part of a local Banana Festival. JHF was at the time Archives Officer for the Department and accompanied the "Vintage Train" on all of its operations.
This was a time when the Traffic Branch of the Department did not look kindly to some railfan tour operations and so the Secretariat would arrange for the "Vintage Train" operation to be supported by public patronage! It had been proposed that a side-trip to Dorrigo be added to the journey, particularly as diesel traction was to be used on the main North Coast line because of pathing difficulties in the limited times available. What made these trips particularly attractive was that only normal fares were charged, rather than much higher fares which had to be charged to meet the operating fees set by Traffic Branch! The weekend's activities were covered in the then "NSW Digest" (forerunner to the current Australia-wide coverage of "Railway Digest") in its September 1964 issue. At that time, Digest was published at the end of each month, just in time for the next month's ARHS/nsw Sydney meeting. Basically, for the travelling railfans, the itinerary was Sydney-Murwillumbah-Glenreagh-Dorrigo-Glenreagh-Sydney. The sleeping car train had been hauled from Sydney to Casino by d/e 4401, then by 5907 (oil) to Lismore, where the consist was reduced to the "Vintage Train" passenger carriages of CBC, CBC, HX along with the AB dining car and TAM sleeping car for the buffet staff, for the final section to Murwillumbah with vintage locomotives 1243 and 1709. On arrival, 1709 was detached and turned, leaving 1243 to take the train over the extension to the Condong sugar mill, normally only used for sugar cane traffic. 1709 brought the train back from Murwillumbah, then with 1243, took the train back to Casino – 5907 having returned with the sleeping cars earlier. Overnight, 4416 took the sleeping car train from Casino the relatively short distance to Glenreagh. Here, there was an extended delay of 75minutes awaiting a connection with the late running No. 3 Brisbane Express, conveying a contingent of 16 Victorian and NSW enthusiasts (plus yours-truly) bound for Brisbane at a lengthy tour of the Queensland rail network by special train.
My first photo shows 5088 standing at the head of its train in the back (or branch line) platform at Glenreagh. For those who do not know the track arrangements at Glenreagh, it was almost as if the Dorrigo branch had been a privately operated line, with a simple connection to the NSWR's North Coast line. Thus Glenreagh had and island platform with the eastern side serving North Coast Line passengers. There was also a crossing loop (without a platform) for the crossing of opposing trains on the main line. The get to the branch line train, one had to walk to the other side of the island platform. This western side also had the facilities to service Dorrigo line trains, including a turntable.
I had forgotten that the Dorrigo side trip was done of the return from Murwillumbah, so initially I had been puzzled by the location of this photo. The special train has been shunted from the main line side of Glenreagh's platform to the branch line side and the consist reduced to AB dining car (it's a long trip to get to Dorrigo and back in a single day!), TAM sleeping car (for the buffet staff who somehow seemed to enjoy these trips, despite the long and difficult hours worked), CBC sitter and HX sitter with guard's compartment. The residue of the main line sleeping cars for the passengers can be seen stowed on the adjacent track. Of interest is the location of the men's toilet, off the platform itself, a common feature with such facilities at country locations. The ladies on the other hand would always find their facility as part of the station building.
To complete the weekend's activities, 4416 took the re-amalgamated train from Glenreagh back to Broadmeadow, thence steam with 3838 to Gosford and electric 4616 for the final 50 miles to Sydney.
JHF's photos have provided a differing aspect of the day's excursion, while the local knowledge of Greg and Chris are making it possible for me to more correctly identify the locations on my many photographs taken on the day. Thanks, guys!
The date for the branch line trip??? Sunday, 30th August 1964. Bringing back some old, old otherwise almost forgotten memories of some 58 years past!
Glenreagh in 2003 (Susan M Woodhouse)
Glenreagh mid 90s (Syd Ramsay)
Glenreagh, 19/12/2002 (Neil Munro)
Goods shed and station at Glenreagh, 1997, uncredited
Glenreagh in 1958 (C Winney)
No. 11 North Coast Mail at Glenreagh, 29/10/1976 (Neil Munro)
Works train led by 1904 at Glenreagh in 1935
Remains of the water tower in 2019
Glenreagh station plans (Records NSW)
Resident enginner's office at Glenreagh in 1923 - assume this may have had something to do with the GD line construction.
Steve Shotton (3//4/2023)
3813 on the return home of the RTM South Brisbane Tour standing in Glenreagh station on 13th January 1973. (George Stevens)
Glenreagh, 1/11/1948. (State Archives)
The train on the Dorrigo side of the platform is probably 1957 which was a regular on the line and ran a thrice weekly mixed goods at this point.
Glenreagh Loco, 1/1/1948 (State Archives)
Glenreagh, undated (State Archives)
Glenreagh, Oct 2023, Sharon Rewell
Here is the Lee family at the Glenreagh barracks, 1984. To the right is the 652.500 km peg plus Beyer Garratt 6039.
At that time several DSRM volunteers including myself were living at the barracks. The barracks has since been demolished by ARTC.
The DSRM volunteers worked from the Glenreagh barracks until the line was reopened to Lowanna in 1984 when they moved into Lowanna station. When the line was reopened to Dorrigo in 1986 the volunteers moved to Dorrigo. I remained behind at the Glenreagh barracks as the caretaker of the bottom end of the line until 1989, when I moved to Moleton. (Greg Lee)
Here is a pic of the initial DSRM workers' sleeping quarters at Glenreagh barracks in 1982. The truck is a B or D truck (I never did memorise the differences between the two). The people in this photo are John Wilson and Debbie Clement.
In late 1982 John Wilson and myself started clearing the G-D line from the Glenreagh end. John was living at Dorrigo and had been clearing the Dorrigo end, but when I moved to Glenreagh in October '82 John and I worked at Glenreagh on weekends, when I was home from working away. (Greg Lee)
Glenreagh on 17 February 1987 (Peter Burr)
June 1950 - A view of the Glenreagh Railway Station and the flooded Orara River spreading over the flats to the west of the station. Note the floodwaters reaching the western boundary of the railway station yard and coming up to the Sherwood Creek Road railroad crossing.
World War 1 Recruitment march, 1915 (this is the year written on the rear of the photo. It could be 1916) - The townspeople of Glenreagh walked with the Recruitment team over to the railway station to see them back off to Grafton. As in the previous picture, the children are wearing what appears to be their good clothing along with hats, long socks and boots. The women are mostly dressed in shirts and skirts and wearing their hats. While it is difficult to see many men, those that can be seen are wearing trousers, jackets and hats. Only one soldier can be seen mounted on this horse. The soldiers at the front don't appear to be carrying rifles, as those at the middle and rear appear to be doing.
The leading group of people are walking beside the railway line, as the railway line and railway signals can be seen mid left of the picture. It appears they are in the railway grounds while those at the rear are still on, what is now, Sherwood Creek Road, just before the railway crossing, following the group to turn and enter the railway grounds.
In the background, just to the mid right of the picture, you can see the railway bridge that crosses the Orara River, To the right of this and on the far right of the picture are buildings, These could be the beginnings of the timber mill and housing that originally stood on this site.
Note all the dead trees in the background. These were most likely ringbarked, i.e., the removal of a ring of the bark from around a tree trunk to kill the tree, and was a popular method used at that time to help clear the land.
Glenreagh- early 1900s (Glenreagh Museum)
Some more photos of 5910 at the Glenreagh railway station. Prominent in these photos, apart from the steam train, is the water tower that was used by the steam trains, both on the North Coast line and the Glenreagh - Dorrigo line. To the right of the water tank you can see the gantry that was used for the loading of goods, such as loads of sleepers, etc., onto the wagons. The hoop pine that stood on the platform, to the north side of the Glenreagh Railway Station, can be seen in all photos.
A discussion on the 59 class engines with one of the former Assistant Station Masters (ASMs) at Glenreagh, revealed that these were oil burners rather than coal burners. He stated that these were a difficult locomotive to work with when shunting, as when mounting and dismounting these engines and carriages, the metal bars were slippery and greasy to grab.
The wagons behind the engines carried the oil for the engines, rather than coal. The 5910 was hauling a series of carriages. Spectators can also be seen close to the train tracks admiring this train. It is unknown when these photos were taken, but if anyone has any further information on the occasion, please let us know. AccNr00038, AccNr00034 and AccNr00035. (GMM)
Glenreagh Yard mid 1990's. (Syd Ramsay)
No. 3 Brisbane Express at Glenreagh in 1956 (RG Preston)
Glenreagh, early 90s (Greg Riddel)
Silver City Comet returns from Brisbane ARHS tour, Glenreagh 1986. (Chris Sim)
Peter Neve :
A SHUNT AT GLENREAGH
I have no idea why this took place! However, on returning to Glenreagh from the excursion to Dorrigo on Sunday 11/12/1967, 5261 apparently undertook a little shunt, seen here with a couple of S-truck adjacent to the stock-loading facility. My photo! 🧐
North Coast Mail train at Glenreagh. Miley McCullogh (McCullock?) nicknamed the Black Panther, a well-known conductor of that time, is walking along the side of the train, checking the box compartments. Two ladies are in the foreground, two men and a lady can be seen in the middle of the platform, one of these appears to be a very tall man. At the Grafton end of the platform there is also another man. The main railway building is the one that is nearest the group of three, hidden from view by the foliage of the plants.
The second image, with the writing, is the rear view of the photo. AccNr0000168 and 00168rear.
Standing behind the bloke leaning on the pay bus is me in 1977 with my mother and brother on the bench at Glenreagh. How times have changed. (Allan Black)
A train, heading north, departing the Glenreagh Railway Station. The last two carriages are carrying soldiers. The date 1919 is written on the back. It could be assumed these are soldiers returning from World War 1. A crowd of people stand under the awning of the station building. The Glenreagh sign can be seen on the right. Note the unsealed surface of the platform, the platform bare of gardens and in the background behind the train, a structure across the rail lines, whether for walking or for railway purposes is not certain. There is also a wooden girder beam chained on the wagon before the carriage. AccNr00202.
from Bessie Webb's booklet, "Glenreagh 1858 - 1983".
Allan Black
Signal box in the background at Glenreagh, 1977.
Glenreagh, undated (Ted Brewer)
An excited bunch of boys from the Glenreagh Scout Troop who, in 1938, were off to a Jamboree, wait on the platform of the Glenreagh Railway Station at the southern end of the station. A black car can be seen in the background, parked in the grass on the eastern side of the railway track. According to a Google search, ten thousand scouts attended the Jamboree, held in Bradfield Park, northern Sydney, in December 1938 until January 1939, and was the largest group brought together in Australia, with participants from all over Australia as well as numerous international participants from other Commonwealth countries including New Zealand and Nauru. This would have been a big adventure for these boys from the small town of Glenreagh. We don't have any names for any of the scouts. AccNr00722 (Glenreagh Museum)
Bert Scales video of Glenreagh in 1974
Glenreagh (prior to 2009) (John Bunker)