Middleton St Siding

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Type : Siding
Line : North Coast Line
Distance from Sydney : 501.793km
Opened : 17 September 1947
Closed : May 1970
Status : Closed
Name meaning : After the street it was sited on
Notes: Bitumen siding. The siding was initially built for flood transportation and was later re-purposed. Demolition of all infrastructure at the sidinbg was completed in February 2024.

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Peter Osborne:

What was the Spraypave depot. Not sure exactly when the siding was closed and removed. I lived in South Kempsey growing up.
Siding was operational in the 70's and possibly early-mid 80's.
I think the bitumen wagons for the siding would come on a southbound freight train, which meant the wagons would have to be loose shunted into the siding.
Would watch from the bottom of Macquarie Street, which had a clear view of the line. Locomotive and bitumen wagons would be detached from the train, train would accelerate towards the siding, locomotive would accelerate past the siding and the wagons would be run into the siding.

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Middleton St siding in use as a trans-shipment point during flooding at Kemspey (undated) (State Archives)

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Train consist form 5/3/88 with 4466 has NTAF 3354 Caltex on 6469, this wagon would have been shunted on the down into Middleton Street siding, the Mavin's Petroleum depot was across the road the pipes running from the unloading point under the road to the depot.
The siding served both Mavin's & Pioneer Road services.

Lenore Reinhard - Riddel

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Lenore Reinhard - Riddel

Train consist form 18.6.88 with 8023 on 6450 has NTBF 6084 & NTBF 6082 Shell MT Bitumen cars, these cars would have been picked up by the down pick up after dropping off loaded wagons @ Middleton Street & forwarded to Grafton to save shunting the wagons in Kempsey Yard, then returning on 6450.

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Middleton Street siding notes:
For Austerity purposes:
First photo shows siding (closed) intact, with the simple unloading facilities visable on the fence.
Last photo shows siding removed.
The siding was closed in the first half of the 1990's, the reason (excuse) being there were no environmental facilities in place should one of the tank cars leak, when question's were asked what was being put in place in the event if a road tanker began leaking on site (many truck & dog tankers stored on site & semi trailer deliveries after rail traffic suspended) the silence was deafening!
Greg Riddel.

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NT3 XP2003 CountryLink livery with Maurie at the controls, old Middleton Street siding to the right, house to the left long demolished, Country side of the overpass which was built after the level crossing accident.
19/07/1997. (Greg Riddel)