“You could hear the whistle of the train over the paddocks”‘
I. Taylor
HOW DID THE ROCK TO WESTBY LINE GET BUILT?
In the 1870s-1890s era many politicians advocated in the NSW Parliament House for a railway to their electorate or regions.
Why did this happen? This was an era of rail expansion big time across NSW as the NSW rail network expanded fast into north, west and south regions. The expansion of so much rail happened due to support from local residents and from the creation of local town and region “railway leagues” which saw local people coming together to advocate the need for rail to their regions. So efforts like these eventually saw the Westby line built.
Advocating for a rail connection Agitation for the construction of the Westby branch line railway started in 1911 when the Pulletop Railway League advocated for a new railway from The Rock to Pulletop. The League’s decision also requested, while waiting upon the NSW Minister for Lands decision on the line’s outcome, to extend the railway line as far as Jingellic.
After considering options, in 1919 the NSW Parliament passed the The Rock to Pulletop Railway Act, which can be seen at this link.
I unloaded stuff on and off the trains at Westby and Pulletop station. I unloaded 15 tonne of pumpkins in ’44. They went up to Wandoo. We loaded oats and grain, don’t remember loading wheat.
We used to load sheep, and there were stockyards at the station. The old railway siding is still there. Wool from around there was loaded and sent down to Albury.
The trains delivered general goods. You could order stuff and have it delivered to the nearest railway station. It was an essential line for the district at that time.
It only lasted 26 years until the fire.
T. Taylor
There were two railway lines at Westby. They would pull into the station for the passengers then they would back back, the Signal House would trip the switch then they would go up on the other side of the platform and they would pull up and leave it there.
They had big Signal Station in there, and a big overhead water tank. It was like a big swimming pool! The water was pumped up from the neighbouring farm, it came in underground spring from a 1km away that ran beside the railway line, then came up into the tank.
The men had an outhouse and the women’s toilet was in the building.
J. Stewart
There was no ticket office at Birdlip that I can remember. We paid our fare at The Rock, it always being the matter of a few pence. A short distance from the main building was the mens’toilet – I wonder if it was ever used. There was a weighbridge and this was often used. Two huge white gates led onto the whole area.
Often, for something to do, we would walk down to the siding and read the notices which were part and parcel of every railyway station or siding.
We loved the sound of the trains. And to see the crowds waiting on the platform told us of exciting places beyond out own limited fringe.
M Nolan (nee Michael)
The line opened on 5 August 1925 as a branch off the Main South line at The Rock to the small community of Westby, a distance of approximately 40 km.
Many of the photos below of the Mangoplah and Westby stations in 2024 were shot by Railway Heritage Advisor Phil Buckley, as well as other private contributions. All photos are copyrighted to the owners and must not be used without permission.
Mangoplah had a mini-tornato run through the town and ripped off most of what was left of the station roof. The owners are keen to restore the railway station but it is lot of work and cost to get it back to the state it was. The original Mangoplah Railway Station sign now resides outside the Mangoplah Hall.
Westby Railway Station has had a lot of restoration work completed by the owner, including a replacement sign and work to clean up and stabilise the platform. Wombats are causing havoc and holes are regularly patched. The station has the concrete platform visible, the pit, outhouse and the original stockyards and race.
If you have photos that you would like to contribute to this project, please contact us via the form below. We would love to share your photos alongside ours.
WESTBY RAILWAY BRANCH LINE – RARE STATUS
Most heritage railway stations in NSW are either operational / in use for passenger services by TFNSW or are still standing but sadly closed down and bypassed for service stops. Many heritage railway stations are also closed down and located on the Country Rail Network (CRN) non operational railway branch lines. Very few railway stations in NSW are outside of NSW Government control / ownership.
The Westby railway branch line contains the only fairly still intact / significant in southern NSW, privately owned concrete PC design heritage railway stations. There are a few similar concrete and timber heritage railway stations in northern NSW that are also privately owned by 2 organisations.
OWNERSHIP OF THE WESTBY BRANCH LINE STATIONS
With the formal closure of the Westby railway branch line from 10 July 1956, it wasn’t until the Act of Parliament enabling the closure was passed until 1961, that the line was officially removed from use. Since the 1950s closure process this saw the physical railway line that had been burnt and sections that were not burnt all be removed. Fortunately the key railway stations were kept in place. Over the next few decades some of the minor station locations at Birdlip and Pulletop were demolished and limited remains may be found.
Luckily, the key railway stations at Mangoplah, Burrandana and Westby survived potential demolition and over the years these were absorbed into the properties of the nearby land holders. Since the 1960s these stations have decayed somewhat due to no NSW Government need for them and it has been left to the land owners to maintain these now privately owned / located heritage railway stations.
ACCESSING THE WESTBY RAILWAY BRANCH LINE FOR PUBLIC VISITS / TOURS
Can the general public access the former operational railway stations on the Westby railway branch line?
As of 2025, no public access at this time is permitted.
No public access to all railway station locations is due to the stations being situated on private property / land with animals. WHS / safety aspects are also a consideration for the land holders. Possibly in the future public access may be granted by the land holders for special organised public tours.
In the meantime Mangoplah Railway Station is viewable about 500m away from the south east on the main road from Mangoplah to The Rock. Burrandana Railway Station is mostly hidden away by a line of trees and is not accessible at this time. Westby Railway Station is viewable about 120m away from the main road. Please be careful when stopping. There is space to park at Stewart’s Lane in order to walk back to view the station along Westby Road.
THE LINE TO NOWHERE
John Reid produced an excellent booklet called The Rock to Pullitop (Westby) Railway: The end of the Line to Nowhere (A brief history of a Riverina ‘Pioneer’ Line) which many locals have a physical copy of, although the booklet is now out of print as far as we know.
The booklet covers the opening of the line, incidents and the catastrophic fire that abruptly closed the line from Westby to Mangoplah.
Excerpts from the booklet:
The railway station on the main Sydney to Melbourne line was opened on 1st September, 1880 as “Hanging Rock”, changed to “Kingston” on 28th December, 1882 and finally “The Rock”on 10th February, 1883. The Pullitop Railway was to proceed in a S.E. direction — a short branch of 25 mls 54 chains length.
The N.S.W Railways Weekly Notice no. 31 – for the period Saturday, 1st August 2025 to Friday, 7th August, 1925 mentions the “Opening of the Extension from The Rock to Westby”. The line, under control of Junee DIstrict Superintendent was opened on Wednesday, 5th August 1925.
“The Daily Advertiser”, Wagga Wagga, Friday, January 25, 1952 reported CATASTROPHIC FIRES ON RIVERINA PROPERTIES. This fire which started at Mangoplah on the Thursday was to ravage a vast area–as far as N.E. Victoria. Blazes were fanned by strong north westerly winds with fire burning on a wide front devastated miles of country south east of Mangoplah. Speed of the fire was estimated at 40 m.p.h. …the railways had 3,835 sleepers burnt between Mangoplah and Westby and this led to the closure of the line between these two places — recorded as 24th January 1952.
Reid, J. The Rock to Pullitop (Westby) Railway: The end of the Line to Nowhere.
Note the changing of spelling from Pullitop to Pulletop which we wondered could have been a typo when the railway line information was printed and stuck as the area developed further.
ABOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS WEBSITE
In 2023 Railway Heritage Advisor Philip Buckley approached the owners of the Westby Railway Station and Mangoplah Railway Station properties to discuss a collaboration and to gauge interest in the restoration of these two wonderful sites.
Much discussion has taken place over the past year about how to approach this, with Westby already having work done privately to protect the station building, and Mangoplah suffering a mini-tornato that further destroyed most of the roof of the building. As both properties are privately owned, funding can be challenging to secure.
In 2025 the owners agreed that a website was an appropriate way of sharing the stations, with QR Codes to be placed at both stations for visitors to access information. We also hope to have a History of the Westby to The Rock Railway Line information board placed in Mangoplah on a more accessible tourism route to share the story of the railway and create further interest in these wonderful stations, the district and the community surrounding the railway line.
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS PROJECT
Louisa Stewart is interviewing locals and families that have stories to share about the railway line running and/or the fire that ripped through the community in 1952. Please complete the form below if you would like to be interviewed.
Phil Buckley is working with Mangoplah Railway owners to secure funds and permission to develop information boards. If you can support this work we would welcome help to complete this project. Please complete the form below for further information. Messages can also be left at the Mangoplah Pub – drop by for a drink and chat with friendly locals!
If you have further interest in the stations themselves and the infrastructure of the buildings please reach out to Phil Buckley via the form.
The 100 year anniversary of The Mangoplah Hall and the anniversary of the opening of The Rock to Westby Branchline will take place in October 2025 in Mangoplah. We encourage you to attend and celebrate this wonderful milestone in the community.
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