Timber Top

[admin]

Greg Lee :

The photo line at Timbertop on the return journey. These  photos were taken by the NSWGR archivist John Forsyth and are part of  the State Rail photo collection at the State Archives NSW. They show  5088 and passengers on the Dorrigo Line on a side trip from a Vintage  Train outing to Murwillumbah, with NSWRTM (Rail Transport Museum) and  ARHS (Australian Railway Historical Society) members as invited guests,  on Sunday 30th August 1964.
At the time the Dorrigo line was built the NSWGR was frugal indeed. Nothing was wasted and many secondhand materials were reused. In the back ground can be seen a trolley shed constructed from old sleepers. When the line opened in 1924 there were six fettling gangs between Glenreagh and Dorrigo, and they all would have had sheds constructed from old sleepers. There were the remains of a similar (but smaller) shed at Megan but I don't know if it is still standing now.
The number of fettling gangs was later reduced to four with there being gangs at Glenreagh, Timbertop, Lowanna and Dorrigo. Later again the number of fettling gangs was reduced to three, and new corrugated iron trolled sheds were constructed at Glenreagh, Lowanna and Dorrigo in 1949.
The Timbertop fettlers did not have houses at Timbertop as they lived elsewhere. During the week they camped at Timbertop in canvas tents, and they travelled home on the weekends. That was a very spartan life indeed. They didn't have any amenities or even a galley for their cooking. They could have brought fresh food for the first one or two nights, but after that they would have had to survive on canned food.
The house opposite the trolley shed at Glenreagh West was the residence of Alex Cassidy, and his father Frank was one of the fettlers who camped at Timbertop. I knew Alex quite well in the '80s (he loved a drop of port), and that is how I know about the Timbertop fettlers.

[admin]

Peter Neve:

DORRIGO EXCURSION WITH 5088 – 3 Timber Top
When the Glenreagh-Dorrigo branch was officially opened on Tuesday 23/12/1924, the line was only divided into two sections for safe-working purposes, Glenreagh to Lowanna and Lowanna to Dorrigo. This meant that the only intermediate location at which opposing trains could pass each other was at Lowanna.
The initial timetable provided for two trains a day in each direction on weekdays, which those days was regarded as Mondays o Saturdays. One was a goods and the other a mixed. The locomotive and crews off both trains spent the night at Dorrigo. The timetable provided for the down and up mixed trains to pass each other at Lowanna and to assist this purpose, the station was allocated a Station Master.
It soon became very apparent that the single crossing location at Lowanna did not meet operational requirements. For example, if No. 2 Goods, 0615 from Dorrigo ran late into Glenreagh where it was due at 1050, it could delay the departure of No. 1 Mixed, timed to depart at 1135. This in turn would of course be late into Lowanna and thus delay No. 2 Mixed. Any extended delay to No. 2 Mixed could result in a delay to the main line connection and throw into disarray other main line services. Similarly, of course, if the main line connection/s for No. 1 Mixed was late, No. 2 Mixed would have to be held back at Lowanna for the cross. Although the distance from Glenreagh to Lowanna was only a bit over 20 miles or 32km, the running time for the mixed was 96 minutes and 67 minutes on the up, so it may not have been a simple case of letting No. 2 mixed run through to Glenreagh.
Within twelve months, the Glenreagh-Lowanna section had been divided into two, with a crossing loop being constructed at Timber Top, and brought into use on Wednesday, 18/11/1925. There had been a goods loop siding at Timber Top from the line's opening, being located on the up side. The unattended crossing loop was laid in on the down side. Normally all points were set for the main line, however all trains would now need to stop there for safe-working purposes. The down mixed could reach Timber Top 52 minutes after leaving Glenreagh, while the up mixed would be 38 minutes closer to Glenreagh if advanced to Timber Top for the cross.
A quick glance of various WTTs suggest that Timber Top remained as a timetabled crossing point during the steam era if two trains were running on the one day. Following dieselisation, the use of either a 48 or a 44 class meant that far greater loads could be conveyed on a single trip, thus crossing of trains anywhere on the branch ceased. When 5088 on the much-discussed tour crossed No. 2 Goods, it would have been the first time in at least five years since trains had crossed there, and doubtless the last!
I've attached two images from the ARHS/nsw Track and Signals CD showing Timber Top when opened as a crossing loop and including the goods loop siding, and the other showing the crossing loop in is later years after removal of the goods loop siding.
Attached is a scanned slide of mine, taken from half-way up the ladder on the Up Home signal which will give an idea of the remoteness of the Timber Top crossing loop. The small hut containing the two electric staff instruments is just visible. Not seen is the old goods loop, on the opposite side of the main line, which in theory at least, remained until possibly 1971. Saturday, 30/08/1968.
Reliving past memories – enjoy! 🧐

[admin]

Timber Top, 1950

[admin]

Timber Top, 1954 (C Winney)

[admin]

Timber Top signal box, circa 1950

[admin]

Gang #169, Timber Top, 1929

[admin]

Greg Lee:

The G-D line closed in 1972. Between 1982 and 1986 the entire line was reopened by DSRM volunteers, but it didn't remain open for very long. By the time I moved my carriages from Glenreagh to Moleton in late 1988/ early 1989 the vegetation had regrown enough to make the move difficult and even break some windows in one of my carriages.
Since then much of the line was recleared in the early 2000s. The Ulong team under the leadership of Nicholas Timms cleared all the way from Ulong to Timbertop. The Glenreagh team cleared from the trolley shed to the tunnels and beyond, leaving only about 4 miles of track to be cleared, for the whole line to be open from Glenreagh to Ulong. But then the whole thing went pear-shaped, and that is history.
In these photos we see the leader of the original 1982 clearing doing a bit of work around Timbertop signal box with his young daughter, c1990. Why? Because he, like me, cared about the line, felt a sense of ownership over it, a sense of love and duty that can not be taken away by any Earthly power.

[admin]

Undated view of Timber Top

[admin]

Crane base, 2019 and 2021 (Woolghoolgaoffroad & Robert Cook)

[admin]

Aerial view of Timber Top, 2019 (Woolgoolgaoffroad)

[admin]

Timber Top, 2019 (Woolghoolgaoffroad)

[admin]

Timber Top 2022 (Woolghoolgaoffroad)

[admin]

Timber Top - diagram as proposed during construction - note the hand written reference to a station.

[admin]

Well if it isn't the venerable old 1919!
The driver Vince Shipman and his fireman seem to be enjoying this posed photo. The location appears to be Timbertop, on the Down.
The photo is from Marie Howlett's collection, and thanks to Beth Scaysbrook.

[admin]

Tour train at Timber Top, 30/8/1964 (Simons)