I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve walked past Sydney’s “Mortuary Station” and wanted to jump over the fence and take a closer look.

In the days before the car became popular, people (both the living and the dead) would travel to Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery by train, leaving from what was known as the Regent Street Station, or Mortuary Station.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent_Street_railway_station

Long closed to the public, about the only time I’ve ever heard of it being “open” was for Ian Thorpe’s twenty-first birthday. Apparently, you can hire it out, though I can’t imagine it would come cheap.

Fortuitously this morning, as I made my way to the White Rabbit Gallery (another post to follow), I noticed it was open, as part of the 150th anniversary of Rookwood Cemetery commemorations.

3 responses to “Mortuary Station”

  1. Andrew Avatar

    I’m envious. I saw it when on a train to Central and I have written about it. Melbourne had two or three cemetary train lines but not a dedicated station for departure.

    1. James O'Brien Avatar

      I thought about you as I posted, actually.

  2. GeniAus Avatar

    Didn’t realise this was on until it was over. Thanks for the recount.

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COMMENTS

  1. Fantastic station James. I remember a time (57 years ago !) when as a night announcer at 2LM (& pre-recorded…

  2. I’m so glad you have patience and a sense of humour. And I get the invisibility thing. The older I…

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