Bridgewater Junction

[admin]

Type : Station
Line : Main Line
Distance from Hobart : 021.700km
Opened : 1887 (as North Bridgewater), name changed to Bridgewater Junction
Closed : 1974 (last scheduled passenger service),
Status : Closed
Name meaning : Original - as per location
Notes : Original station burnt out 2/2/1951, new station opened 31/8/1952. Island platform, start of the Derwent Valley line. Four stations have existed at the locale - TGR, 2nd, TMLR & present station (1946). Multiple sidings including stock loading facilities. Site is the location of an extensive triangle (wye) installed in 1981.

[admin]

Location of the station (LISTmap)

[admin]

Platform remains in April 2024 (Google)

[admin]

Bridgewater Junction, 1957 (Dept of Education)

[admin]

Bridgewater Station remains, 26 January 1997. Buildings demolished by January 2000. (Ed Tonks)

[admin]

Demolition 2/4/1997

[admin]

Late 1960s, I think this is a Don Stephens photo, supplied by the Transport Commission in 1979. (James Shug)

[admin]

Undated pic of Bridgewater (SLNSW)

[admin]

£20,000 Blaze Destroys Station, Bridgewater, Tasmania, February 2, 1951.
Bridgewater railway station, the most modern in Tasmania, was completely destroyed by an early morning fire. Extensive enquiries failed to reveal the possible origin of the fire.
A pilot system had to be operated on the railway between Bridgewater and Granton to ensure complete safety of trains using the single line over the Bridgewater bridge, as the entire signal system was wiped out.
The last staff member to leave the station was Denis Rainbird, a porter, who checked everything off at 1.15 a.m. Everything then was normal.
A few minutes after 4 a.m., an unknown man awakened the station master (Mr. W.E. Eales), who lived within 50 yards of the station, and told him the station was on fire.
By the time Mr. Eales reached the station, the entire building was burning fiercely. He did not see the man who made the report.
Mr. L. Reynolds, a painter employed by the Railway Department, was asleep in a maintenance gang carriage near the end of the platform.
He heard the crackling of the fire, and when he got to the platform the station master had a hand hose in operation.
At that time the seat of the fire appeared to be centred beneath the floor of the signal box, which formed part of the station building.
The Hobart Fire Brigade was called, but the whole building was engulfed before the brigade could get any water onto the blaze.
All records and a quantity of personal property of migrants, which were stored in the goods room, were lost.
The signalling equipment, which included a system of control for the lift span of the bridge, was ruined. The installation of this system – the most up-to-date in Tasmania – cost about £5,000 when the building was constructed, only 3½ years ago.

[admin]

Cleminson brake composite car AD+3 as Camp 103 at Bridgewater, May 1963 (J Stokes)

[admin]

Pacific MA2 shunts SP3 and SS5 at Bridgewater Junction after arriving with the 5.30 p.m. (30/10/1970) suburban. (Stokes)

[admin]

Bridgewater Junction, early 1900s (uncredited)

[admin]

 Bridgewater Junction Railway Station (1957, Libraries Tas)

[admin]

Bridgewater station with MA3 and its excursion train heading to New Norfolk.Photographer unknown picture from pinterest

[admin]

Suburban railmotor DP 30 with a 1:35 New Norfolk service making a stop at Bridgewater 10/1/1965.Photographer Weston Langford picture from Weston Langford Railway Photography website