South Lismore Railway Station

The South Lismore Railway Station has seen a lot over the years. It was built in 1889 and served as a vital transportation hub for the region for over a century. However, the station has been closed for a number of years, due to flooding and damage from the 2017 and 2022 floods.

One of the most memorable events for me that took place at the station was the arrival of the hippies in 1973 for the Aquarius Festival.… Read the rest “South Lismore Railway Station”

Catching the XPT

The last time I caught the XPT was probably in the mid-1980s. The XPT, by the way, is the “express train” between Brisbane and Sydney. And when I say “express train”, I don’t mean Chinese style/speed trains. It’s more “leisurely”, taking around 14-15 hours for roughly 900km.

When I was a child, we lived only about 100m from the railway line, and it was a regular thing for me to go out and wave to the passengers on the trains that came through daily.… Read the rest “Catching the XPT”

South Lismore at night

A few days ago I was inspired by a photograph on Instagram.

From what I can see, the photographer, Mark Kriedemann is a journalist at the local commercial radio station here in Lismore.

And when he’s not doing that, he’s a photographer who travels around the area taking lots and lots of photographs.

As an artist, he’s very good. And his photograph of the railway station at night (in black and white) really connected with me.… Read the rest “South Lismore at night”

Mortuary Station

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.… Read the rest “Mortuary Station”