Trains in the days of steam
We hear a lot these days about the difficulties experienced by people commuting to Sydney to work, particularly by rail, and I wonder if there is anyone out there who remembers travelling on the early morning trains in the days of steam.
There were only two trains from Woy Woy in the morning.
The first was a Gosford to Hornsby local which departed at 5.09am and this had to be the choice if one started the working day in Sydney before 8am.
The next train departed at 6.45am and went through to Central.
This conveyed the late starters and office workers and arrived at around 8.30am.
I joined the long suffering but philosophical crowd on the 5.09 in February 1957.
A gregarious lot who warmly welcomed me and whose lively and most interesting company made the daily grind more bearable.
Debates about all kinds of topics were the norm.
Delays between Hawkesbury River and Cowan were frequent, mainly in winter or in wet weather when the lines would be slippery. The engine from our train would often be used to assist the earlier North Coast Mail or perhaps a goods train to climb the Hawkesbury bank and then return to re-couple and continue the journey.
There were some great examples of fortitude, such as the man who rowed across from Woy Woy Bay every day in all kinds of weather, another who did likewise from Davistown.
I recall also a man who lived on the shore of Mullet Creek diagonally opposite Wondabyne station and he initially came across in a small boat with outboard motor and often with a car battery for re-charging.
When his children were old enough they brought him across and later came across again to pick up the train to Woy Woy and school.
The return trip at the end of the day was achieved either by way of the 4pm train from Central or the 5.50pm Hornsby to Gosford.
There were doubtless many warmed-up dinners and disgruntled spouses if these connections were missed.
Electrification of the inter-urban lines eventually led to the breaking up of the 5.09 gang as more trains were introduced.
However, delays were still frequent due to the difficulty of integrating the extra trains into the already saturated Sydney system.
From what I hear this is still the situation today, in spite of all the extra trains in service, due to great extent to the very large increase in the population of this part of the Coast.
There is no doubt that the trains are vastly more comfortable these days and the hold ups therefore easier to endure.
The ghosts of the 5.09ers would be smiling.
Bill Flynn,
Blackwall