Royal National Park Line (and the Sydney Tramway Museum): Lost Sydney 

In the early 1980s I had a nerve injury which meant pain in my arms and temporarily stopped me working. train rides to the National Park station from Newtown and then walks through the park to either ferry to Cronulla or Otford station brought me peace, sanity and helped my recovery. I was often the only person to get off at Royal National Park station. An almost surreal experience. A lovely place to take a train to. We need more stations like it.

Hi Sharath My dad and I worked on building the platform back in 79 I was a third year apprentice at the time and finished the copping course of brickwork as the other brickies to the money and ran. I remember spending weeks out there cutting and laying bricks on the platform , Thanks for bring back some found memories of yester year for me Cheers Mark

Thanks - great memories; as you said the National Park line was electrified very early BUT didn’t take services away from the Waterfall line until very late because the Waterfall line was serviced by motor rail. It’s important to remember that even in the 60s many families didn’t have cars and the train was the only way to get to the National Park.

what a great video, I will visit this and the museum

My Aunty lived at Loftus and had a small shack at Era (beach valley to south of Garie Beach. From around 1957 to 1961 we had no car, even though Dad made his living as a truck driver. He walked to work. We used to catch the train to Loftus from St. Leonards station (mum + 3 kids, dad worked). Stay with my Aunty Friday night, catch the train to RNP Saturday morning, then hike in to Era. We loved it! I remember Mum took us on a tram ride to Crow's Nest Junction from near home, and said this'll be your last tram ride ever! Glad they brought them back! Thanks for the memories

I’m absolutely going the tram ride into the Royal National Park next time I’m in Sydney. Thanks for the great video!

I remember the Royal National Park trains quite well. My family and I were living in Sydney until June 1981, when we moved to Melbourne. I used to visit the Sydney Tram Museum quite regularly at its former site and alighted the train at Loftus Railway Station which was within walking distance of the tram museum. Sydney actually had the second largest tram system in the world prior to their closure in February 1961. They were only surpassed by London UK' s tram system, which closed in July 1952.

Great video as always Sharath...one of Sydney's hidden gems is the Loftus Tram Museum...remember going there many many years ago well before the line crossed the Princes Hwy...and the museum was a shadow of its current self...can imagine it is well worth the visit these days. Keep up the great work mate in bringing Sydney to the masses...pretty sure there is a plethora of stories from over the years that you can bring further life to...and deservedly so...the city is steeped in history...some good, some bad, and some just plain ugly...but all worthy of mention as they're all what's made this beautiful city what it is today!!!!

Had a fantastic day out at the Tramway Museum 30 or so years ago. Well worth a visit.

What a great video, loved it. Thanks.

Nice vid mate. Need to visit!

I used to ride on the Vario tram all the time when I lived in Pyrmont and later Annandale back in the day, and found them to be very comfortable and smooth. I bet the government wishes that they'd kept them running now, seeing as the new replacement trams they brought in virtually cracked in half in only 7 years of operation & the entire Inner West Line had to be shut down (at the time, indefinitely) a couple of years ago as a result.

I caught the train to the Royal National Park several times in the 80s. There were very few passengers on board during the times I used it. One time a friend and I got stuck there at night, as the last train ran at about 6:30pm. We had to call, our parents to come and pick us up! I remember services stopped maybe in the late 80s.

The Tramway museum is awesome! Went there about ten years ago and had a brilliant day. They even have trams from other cities, I remember riding on one from Brisbane

wow , this brings back memories , when i was in my teens i had to work on some of the old trams as community service on weekends for my punishment orded by Sutherland local court house . these trams look so great when we restored them . great video thanks.

Thanks for the memories. I used to travel on the 2001 class tram to school as a young boy and the 'Malabar/La Perouse' line was the last to close in Sydney. I also did a lot of walking in the National Park and as a young Army Reserve Officer out of Sutherland often took my troops into the old overgrown training ground in the north western part of the park.

My, gosh, your content is so interesting. Please keep doing it

Very nicely researched and put together, as an entertaining package. I left northern New South Wales with my parents to live in Brisbane in 1958 when I was a lad 11 years of age. I fell in love with this city. A major contributing factor was the train system, the tram system, and on a much smaller scale, the trolley bus system. The trams and trolley buses have long gone. The railway system is here to stay, and since electrification it has grown into a new, stronger dimension in south-east Queensland. However, new-age trams have been introduced on the Gold Coast very successfully. I'm sure they'd work well in other Queensland cities too with some genuine planning efforts.

Thank you for creating this video, you've inspired me to take a trip down to the Nasho and ride the tram down to this old station with friends. Your energy and passion for your channel is infectious, keep it up!

In the early 1970s, as a preteen and young teen, I often caught the train to the Royal National Park. It was great. Another way I used to get to the southern end of the Park was to get the rail motor to Lilyvale station, between Waterfall and Otford. A short walk had you at Burning Palms beach, long before the figure 8 pool became a meme. The current Lilvale track carpark is where a sawmill used to be.

Love the tram Museum. Great video.

A minor point about military training areas: A lot of them are better managed than national parks and do provide a sanctuary for flora and fauna. Yes, some bits do get blown up, but its only a small part that is used as the impact area as they want to keep the potentially unexploded ordnance confined to a small area and around that area are massive buffer zones that are a minimum of twice the range of the weapon being used. The green clad campers in these ranges also take everything with them when they leave, unlike a lot of campers in national parks. Leave a mess and a grumpy Warrant Officer can make your life much worse than any Ranger could hope to.

Yessir

Very well-researched - thanks. Photos are great and very nostalgic. Go, go, go to the Museum - especially to see the prison tram. From which Darcy Dugan once escaped. Well worth it !

I remember catching the train to the National Park as a kid. Wonderful experience.

Cool vid mate, shows how much hindsight Sydney planners had to Melbourne, removing all the old tram lines from Sydney and what they are spending now to put new ones in, lol

Dear Sir a BIG thumbs up for your review of the Tram Museum and the old National Park line. Very, very well done and thanks a heap for taking the time to make such a professional presentation.

Another fab video - bravo! I’ve ridden this line into the park, but I had no idea of the long, long history of that line and station/ platform.

it is cool, added to to-visit list😃

Great video! As someone who spent hours on Google Maps looking for evidence of lost Brittish railways, it's interesting

Sydney trams often ran through bushland. This line's appearance isn't even remotely out of the ordinary. Well, aside from the railway style level crossing. Back in the day Sydney was barely developed and the trams ran in advance of it all. Many winding roads in the hillier bits of inner Sydney are converted tram reservations. Like Parriwi Road in Mosman, and across the bridge there was Linkmead Avenue and Kanangra Crescent in Balgowlah. They got converted into roads when the opportunity arose.

Your videos are getting better! Love learning the history around the Sydney area mate, keep it up!

I grew up in my early years at Loftus. I remember carrying by bicycle over the motor rail tracks , dodging Hwy traffic, then riding to the station , then down to Auderley. Thanks for memories.

bringing back the trams (in the form of lightrail) has made me want the monorail line back. i was lucky enough to have been on the monorail a few times before they decided to shut it down and I believe it could be much more worth it to bring it back now and the old monorail stations still exist. it was honestly ahead of it's time back then, if it was brought back I'm sure it would get more exposure than it use to and I feel like compared to trams there would be less wait time as it's not on a shared area. and the fact that we use to have trams in the city (mid 2000s cause I clearly remember) only for the government to demolish them to only bring it back, makes me realise that our government doesn't like to ever plan things ahead. this video has brought back many fond memories of public transport and I'm only in my early twenties 😂

I joined the tram museum in 1964, and even then members had their covetous eyes on the railway branch into the park. During train days, if you asked the driver at Sutherland would they mind stopping at the ‘Corroboree’ platform, they would let you off at the old scout platform right next to the then tram shed. And going home, give them a wave as they approached the platform heading towards Sutherland and they always picked you up ☺️. Railways were more friendly and less regulated in those days!

Magnificent vid 👌 👏

And how about a feature on the zig zag railway at Lithgow? That one was brought back from being completely lost to time.

The reason trains ran from all Circle Station to National Park was straightforward. Prior to the Eastern Suburbs line services on the Illawarra line went around the City Circle. Clockwise so the trains would return to the Illawarra line platforms at Central. Until 1980 the end of the Illawarra line for electric trains was either Cronulla or National Park. I think National Park line had an operational value as a place where trains could be turned around and that outweighed diminishing passenger numbers. When the electrified line was extended to Waterfall in 1980 and the Cronulla line was duplicated in 1985, National Park would have become an operational liability just finding a train to serve it. Expect politics kept it open as long as it did as it is a seat that does change hands.

'Everyone was so friendly'... more proof that tram people are nicer than car people!

Nice doco on the Sydney Tramway Museum, also maybe you can a video on Zig Zag Railway when it reopens and the Thirmere Loopline they good examples of abandoned railways becoming successful railways

Nice one indeed!

Fun fact: there was a major rail disaster on Cowan Bank in May 1990. 6 fatalities, 106 injured. The railways needed to test whether the sand dropped by a steam locomotive could insulate the track circuits on an electrified rail line, to confirm the suspected cause of the crash being flickering red to green signals that the 2nd train proceeded through. Oh, look, a barely used electrified rail line with similar signalling. Guess what the Royal National Park line was used for in its dying months?

Hey can you do a video on the old drivein movie theatres that existed in the past. One of them was in Matraville until about 1984, it has now been built over with townhouses.

I remember as a young child in the early 1950's catching the train from Penshurst to Sutherland or maybe Loftes where we boarded the Railmotor to the National Park station. I am fairly certain that the Railmotor left from Sutherland. I remember walking down the track to Audley and watching people in the rowboats. We were not wealthy enough to hire a boat. Some years later in 1954 the pupils from Penshurst Marist Brothers were taken by bus to stand by the Princess Highway near National Park to wave at the young Queen Elizabeth as she drove by. Brian

love having google maps open on the other monitor and following along with where you're going from above

Great video! Would you consider a similar style video one day for a similarly repurposed line just outside Sydney? The Picton to Buxton “Loop Line” railway, once the main line from Sydney to Albury (connecting to Melbourne) and then bypassed. Only to be repurposed by the Rail Transport Museum / Rail Heritage NSW and once again carrying passengers?

Crikey. Brings back memories. Rode that line once, would have been 1971.

I grew up in Grays Point which is a nice walk along the trail through the park to the station. Occasionally (if the timing was right) I would catch the train to the park and walk home from there. It was nicer than catching a bus from Gymea or Sutherland.

I remember the line over the Princes Highway being pulled up in the early '90's and Main Roads then laid new bitumen over where the rails used to be, and removed the warning signal lights It must have been a cock-up as about 6 months later the road surface was removed and the rail tracks layed again, and the lights installed again.

As for the former Scouts platform, I joined the tram museum in 1964 and even before that time if asked at Sutherland, the driver would stop the train at the ‘Corroboree’ platform for me to get off, and stop when waved down on the return. Could you imagine that today? It was right next to the original museum shed. I forget when it was demolished, but maybe after trains ended. As for scrapping Sydney trams, since the 1930s it had been the ‘modern’ thing to do, especially after New York and London disappeared. No doubt that is why the state government hired London Transport to recommend the future of Sydney’s trams. Hire the consultants who will give the report you want.

Yoo I did the tram tour from Loftus to Sutherland it’s amazing!

Good one. Can you also do a video regarding some notorious traffic congestion places like Epping Rd, Parramatta Rd at Auburn and Victoria Rd.

Will be visiting on the 2nd April.

I've driven trains on that line. I hate to see lines close but this one really went nowhere. It couldn't get down the hill to Audley and most people don't want to walk there and back.

Well done buddy on another great video and your excellent research has come to the fore again here! A point of note in your commentary however is necessary I believe. Most people 'nowadays' all agree that the "Royal", or "Natio" as the locals call it, is the 2nd oldest National Park in the world. But it was only as little as 20 years ago that this so called fact was a disputed one, with the "Royal" being arguably considered as the 1st National park with Yellowstone NP. How this dispute was resolved, or just 'favoured' by the Americans over the Aussie's is still in questioning not well documented. Perhaps this is something you could look into. Was the documentation proving our National Park's creation lost, misplaced or just misfiled, so that the issue could never be resolved? Who knows. Or was it a a case of the Park's creation being established a one point in time, but the necessary paperwork not being lodged with the Fed. Govt. in time to make sure it was gazzetted until after that of Yellowstone? Did someone slip up there? I guess we'll never know now. I came about his information when talking to an American tourist once. I don't know the answer either. Great work. all the best from a "Shire boy"...

speaking of trams - did you get to the Sydney Vivid exhibition in the old Wynyard tram tunnels?

Always wondered where that train line went to ? Does the tram travel to the end of the line & return ?

When you think about it, the station isn't near the sights such as the weir, so it stopped in the wrong spot

This is another great video Sharath, feel like I need to check these trams out. Also given the transit meltdown in Sydney today, I'd love to see a video from you talking about the problems of the train network and proposed solutions for greater reliability

Great video, I grew up nearby and visited the tramway a lot as a kid, it was a great way to go for a bush walk (plus I loved trams and trains as a kid)

Can someone please explain why many cities seem to have trams coloured green and gold.

LOFTUS MENTIONED LETS FUCKING GOOOOO it is a bit of a hole but no where else do you get the rural feel so close to the city

How fitting that I get this in my feed just as I've been through a massive delay in the train networks.

I have no idea why we got rid of trams in Sydney, Melbourne is still thriving with their tram network

there is some debate if yellowstone predates the royal national park with the latter established earlier but not officially.

"Inevitably closed in favour of buses..."? There was nothing inevitable about it. Ask Melbourne.

2:10 BMX Bandits!

As a resident of this area, this has been very informative. Can tell you how often I drive past the museum and have thought about its popularity. Its great to see that there are passionate volunteers dedicating themselves to preserving a part of our history that only our parents and grandparents would be aware of. Thank you for another great video.

This is honestly really cool this is definitely something i'm interested in doing sometime

Melbourne was planned. Adelaide was planned. Both were developed later and crucially both had flat areas to plan a city on. Sydney, as a city, was not planned in the same way. It just happened as a consequence of a penal colony expanding in a place not geographically suited to a planned city like those two

Luckily I live close to the tramway museum and the national park station always fascinated me. Great video as always. Keep them coming.

Should reopen it as a train line tell Chris Minns

tramway museum is so sick sometimes they do doggy days where everyone brings their dogs and gets lovely instgram photos of trams full of lil dawgies

I can't believe it. You did it! U legend!!!!! I commented on a previous video my enthusiasm to see a video on the trams (well I said plus one on the trams under someone else's comment who also wished to know more about the trams). But you did it and even went to the tram museum. You're the best and I hope your channel grows so much.

First National Park. America claims first by saying National Park had to be a Royal National Park

Hi

wow great video

Personally I think alot of these existing trams should be brought back into service as a tourist attraction in the city of Sydney rather than gathering dust in a loftus museum!!!😮

Hi, great vid, but hopefully you've used fake info in the visitor book - otherwise you might want to blur your name and home suburb.

please do a video on the sydney monorail

Such a valuable cultural asset! Thanks to all the volunteers and for the government officials who made the preservation possible. Great video!

I used to go doing photoshoots at the shed that had a bunch of trams in it near the level crossing in the park which the trams ran past. I got harrassed and Kicked out a few times by park rangers whom threw me out but left vandals and graffiti artists right there destroying stuff while they marched me off with my threatening Camera's. they threatened to arrest me once till I begged them to go right ahead and let me have my day in court and put them under scruitiny as to why they were letting the vandals go but harassing people taking pictures and doing no harm at all. Typical. I had a Number of run-ins with the little punks that would go there to smash the trams in the shed that were always real tough and full of lip till you grabbed the ring leader and told the rest of them to bring it on. Cowards, Morons and wastes of oxygen. Why they had to destroy these history Pieces I do not know but I wasn't going to stand round and watch them do it that was for certain! Sure enough, my worst fears were realised and I heard there was a fire that wiped out the shed and all the trams in there were lost. Pretty inevitable really. They were sitting ducks and only a matter of time before one of these little turds thought it would be fun to light them up. I also used to go do shoots in the tramsheds in the city near harold park which is now restaurants. Had the same thing there, Idiot security gaurds threatening calling the police on my while there were literally a dozen Dropkicks covering everything in spray paint and smashing things. Told them to get stuffed and call the cops or bugger off..... which they did unfortunately and wouldn't touch the graffiti artists. Was ridiculous. Was fascinating to see that place with the changerooms for the workers and the different facilities. Was getting destroyed fat though and again I ran more than a few deadbeats off who thought breaking stuff was somehow fun. They did a TV show or a movie there once and cleaned up the thousands of empty spray cans. I remember this one huge full size skip full of cans and another half full. Not happy to leave history alone these clowns, have to paint their garbage over everything and think it somehow looks good or is " art" . Yeah Right! Hopefully they got the trams out of there while there was still something worthwhile to get. Good to see some have been saved and restored.

Very good doco! Keep 'em up!

I adore trams, as a Melbournian living in Sydney there's not a day that goes by that I don't miss the trams

Sydney CBD = Cannabidiol?

As part of the scouts I help run the bbq at the yearly open day for the tramway museum. It's such a fun day both watching the trams but also the 'tram fans'. Plus we get to jump on the tram and visit the abandoned plattfom in quiet moments

Excellent video that has informed many people by the look of the comments. Just a couple of teeny weeny little things, sorry, sorry. It was Eddy Avenue, not Eddy Street and the 'Toast Rack' trams were called toast racks because they resembled toast racks, not toasters. In fact, they were very breezy and not toasty at all. A toast rack is....er, I'm sure you will find out if you are interested. BTW, I was born in Engadine! Yay! 😊✨

I am from Melbourne and I caught a train to RNP in it’s last few years. I remember the level crossing, it was a double decker train. An interesting tram at Loftus is a PCC from US.

G'day Sharath & Amy, I got to ride the National Park Train & the SLR, I haven't done the National Park Tram but it is something I would be interested in if I my work I am doing helps me to cope better with my anxiety in public. Ps I am very much looking forward to your Tram Video 🚋😁👍

I had no idea about the history of the Royal National Park Railway line until watching this video. It's amazing to see how the Sydney Tramway Museum has given it a second life with their parklink tram service. The museum's collection of trams and historical structures is truly impressive, and it's great to see such a dedicated group of volunteers preserving Sydney's rich transportation history. Thank you, Building Beautifully, for sharing this story with us!

Great video as always. I had no idea about the RNP line before but it’s great to hear how it’s been maintained even today as an attraction…. Who knows maybe carlingford line might become a similar attraction in the future!

Thanks Sharath , that was really interesting 👍

Visited the Tram museum last weekend. I was lucky enough to be able to take a 1920s/30’s red rattler from central all the way to Loftus! It was quite wonderful to see as I never knew it existed and was born to late to ever ride on a tram in Sydney.

Nice work, learned a lot, enjoyed it. Thanks!

I grew up in Sydney without trams and now with decades living in Melbourne, I can state absolutely that trams should only be used with reserved space away from motorised traffic, not sharing roads with vehicles.

I always wanted to do a skid with a Tram.

Why can't these put in tunnels?! The light rail or tram that runs up George st Sydney has ruined it. There is a heavy rail line under the same street ....why they wouldn't make a new tunnel to service where the light rail runs thru randwick....they even have spare platforms at central and town hall sitting there unused waiting for such an opportunity. The whole city circle of Sydney has many unused platforms which still makes me wonder why they haven't been utilized

Loved this place. especially when we lived down there. The train went there then. Along time ago.

Thank you

Ah, the Coast Track in the RNP. One of my favourites hikes. Can't wait until they fix the Garie Beach section 😊😊