Mangoplah Station
HISTORY
Located at the 567.720 km marker from Sydney, Mangoplah railway station was constructed as part of the Westby branch line. Mangoplah railway station was a main intermediary station, constructed as part of the The Rock to Westby railway branch line. Agitation for the construction of the railway line goes back to 1911, when the Pulletop Railway League advocated for a railway line from The Rock to Pulletop. While waiting for a political decision, the League sought to have the line further extended and run to Jingellic. In 1919, the NSW Parilament passed The Rock to Pulletop Railway Act but with post WW1 debt and supply issues impacting NSW, this delayed the branch line construction and work didnt commence until February 1923.
STATION
The station was constructed from February 1923 with many locals turning out to see this progressive railway becoming a reality. On 5 August 1925 the Mangoplah railway station precinct opened and this was a typical early 1900s era NSW pioneer type branch line station design. The rail works had built a 70m long curving concrete platform wall for the large station building. The Westby branch line utilised the latest in the 1920s thinking of NSW Govt railways designers plans for railway station building construction, which was primarily the relatively new PC- pre cast concrete style for the buildings. A station building of the PC-3 design, which was 2nd largest of the PC- series, was built at Mangoplah railway station. It had concrete panels for the walls and a slate/asbestos roof and a corrugated iron awning. The station was attended by a staff member for the occasional services and thus was only used when a person/s needed to alight or board the train. Opposite the station was a siding, with a stock race, loading bank and goods shed. A silo was built in the 1900s for storage of local farming output.
REMAINS
The south east end of the Westby branch line railway section which included Mangoplah, was closed down with passenger services ceasing on 24 January 1952 due to the large scale bushfire damage furth up the line towards The Rock. The whole branch line was closed down by 10 July 1956. Mangoplah railway station was fairly intact at time of closure of the line by 1956 and over last 70 years has seen property owners maintain the station and preserve it. A major storm in 2020s has ripped the asbestos tiles off the roof and damaged the roofing structure. All track has been since long removed from the station and rail yard.