The Hunter Line: What an oddity! (North Coast Line section) 

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The soyjack thumbnail is hilarious

You are absolutely correct about those switches at Martins Creek by the way. I'm a train driver and have taken a train in there once before. The switches are actually called a ground frame. The frame has a key, which is in the nearby box with the padlock on it, which can only be released by the network controller. Pulling the levers over will change the points to allow a train into the quarry siding. Hope the info was useful for anyone that's interested!

Mindaribba probably wins the "percentage of platform occupied by station sign" contest though.

This is so nostalgic to watch. I lived in Wallarobba as a kid in the early 2000's. Me and my siblings would catch the train home from school most days We'd almost always get a 620/720, which were saunas during summer. The summer days an Endeavour with its air conditioning showed up were a treat After getting off, we'd wait on the platform until the train was around the corner, out of sight. Then we'd cross the track and a few fields to get home. Always keeping an eye out for brown snakes though! And fun fact, between the original larger station, and the concrete one there now, there was a short wooden one when I lived there. It was similar to the now closed Allandale Station. It was so short the train would regularly miss the platform and we'd have to climb down to ground level to get off

As someone who used to live in the Hunter Valley area for 20 years and used this line frequently. I got a real sense of nostalgia just watching your video and honestly really appreciate a non-locals opinion of the Hunter Line. I think the line is useful for commuting between Maitland and Newcastle plus I absolutely loved travelling to Sydney by train when I was a teenager and in my early 20s. In all seriousness, I absolutely loved the video, keep it up!

Dungog and Paterson stations are used more than Opal figures would lead you to believe, Several rail heritage group run trips to Dungog or Paterson from Maitland or Newcastle. It is quite pleasant going to Dungog behind a steam engine.

These stations make developers rub hands aggressively

Somewhere around Mindaribba I realised that you drove to all of these stations and I thought "Surely catching a train is the best way to get to a train station, right?" which was immediately followed by the realisation that if you're visiting multiple stations in one day where there is an hour gap between trains there's really no feasible way to do that by catching the trains themselves. Let alone if you want to catch any drone footage of a train passing. Edit: Oh lol, you covered that later.

Reminds me a bit of the stony point line down here on the outskirts of Melbourne. Like this hunter lines has small infrequent diesel trains, tiny stations and frequency and low patronage

As someone that lives in the Rutherford area I hate that the westerly tracks out to Scone are nothing but coal trains every 15 minutes or so. If there was more than 5 trains a day, people would use them... I also selfishly wish the old Farley station that was removed in the 1960s is returned for the new developments in Rutherford and Farley, but we need at least 1/2 hourly services for it to be usable. Even the hourly off peak to Telarah isn't enough.

As i said before, love it when you have a co host. Amy is great.... MORE AMY !!!

Used to ride the Scone branch from Singleton regularly from 1987-1989. Abandoned stations on that branch include Whittingham, Minimbah, Belford, Allandale and Farley. Most are away from their town centres probably because their main function would have been transporting stock. The long ramp is due to Australian design standards for access which mandate that ramps built after 1994 be no steeper than 1:14.

Sharath I have always loved your videos, but this is the best yet. Sarcasm well delivered is hilarious, and you nailed it.

My Grandfather was a stationmaster. Most of the "outbuildings" formed part of the station master's residence. My Uncle was a postmaster and the reason they had these stations continue was because the mail, you know, when you write a letter and post it, were transported by rail. I recall also there was a "travelling post office" on the train and the bags were sorted by direction by the postmaster. 1 bag for North and one for South on that particular line. These bags were sorted on the train and mail was then deposited with the station master for the post master to collect.

Honestly best channel on YT right now. Well done

In the 70's it was a 2 car rail motor, in winter it was like sitting in a freezer people sitting on boxes in the corridor.

In early 1967 at age early 20s I lived with my uncle and grandmother just west over the Hunter River at the Luskintyre timber truss bridge. One Sunday I went to church in Newcastle with a friend and was invited by other friends for lunch and dinner near Sandgate. In order to get home to Luskintyre I had to catch a train to Singleton going through Sandgate. It was after 8pm at night and my nearest station to get home was Lochinvar. I had to tell the train driver (on a steam engine) that he had to stop at Lochinvar to let me off. So I was pretty scared that he might forget. Anyway he did stop and I got off at the old station on the southern side as shown in the b/w photo in this video. It was dimly lit and even scarier. So I had to walk west to the level crossing to walk north into Lochinvar. I had never been to this part of the district so being late in the evening I was literally walking into the unknown, and I was quite unnerved. It was now pitch black and I could barely make out the gravel road as the dim lights of Lochinvar station receded behind me. Dogs sort of got roused as I passed a few farm houses, and their barking really put the wind up me. But I sort of trudged stoically on till I got to the well-lit New England Highway 2km from the station. Then I had a further 2.5km to get to the bridge, which included a 300-400 metre west on the Highway past the Lochinvar Hotel which was near closing or was closed being a Sunday, I can’t actually remember. I was now feeling more at ease in the more familiar landscape even though it was difficult away from the town lighting to see anything. Google maps now tell me the whole walking journey would have taken 1 hour and 14 minutes. So I guess I arrived home a bit after 10pm. Of course in those days the farmhouse back door was not locked so I crept into bed quickly knowing I had to get up at 03:30 next morning to help uncle with the milking. That is one of my abiding memories of Lochinvar and surrounds. Thankyou for the interesting video, I found it fascinating.

Another fantastic video from you Sharath. I wonder if the maintenance costs for that crazy long footbridge at Lochinvar is higher than those station buildings that they removed 😂

Great vid. I was on this line last week - the 2nd last on my quest to ride all the intercity/suburban/metro lines of Sydney. The usage figures that CityRail say are interesting. I caught the 8:29am from Hamilton to Dungog and the same train on its return, which due to late running was 7 minutes. I couldn't walk around Dungog due to other commitments in Newcastle. On that trip people hoped off at Paterson (6), Martins Creek (2) and 2 people at one of the single door platforms (can't remember which one). None of them tapped off on the opal reader -all just left the platform. About 8 go off at Dungog and a similar number caught it back to Maitland. Definitely a quiet line. As I have a gold opal card, it was a great $2.50 ride!

I'm honestly surprised that these are quieter than Lysaghts, and that Lochinvar is quieter than Rydal despite Rydal being right next to the actual town. I guess more evidence than ever that frequency of service matters.

Really good pies at the cafe at lochinvar. Would be a long walk from the station tho

Developers and Real Estate agents “Oh a train station!!! Homes now valued at 1.5 million dollars. Thank you.

I went to Scone and back on the Fare Free Days around 20 years ago - it was the furthest you could get, and I totalled 1,000 km in 24 hours

It's actually a very useful service, allowing commuting for work and university plus shopping trips for seniors who can no longer drive. People can access the cityrail system to go to Sydney and beyond. All this makes Dungog a very popular place to retire to.

can Amy please drop the fish themed fit i bc love it

the hat may be in bad condition but its in better condition then the actual team so it could be worse

These are my fav type of videos from Building Beautifully 🎉🎉🎉 Thank you!

That ENG1300 quip struck me deep in my bones 😅

Yes!😄 Finally, the Hunter Line in all it's weird glory! Can hardly wait for Southern Highlands line👍 You and Amy are really funny

Another well researched and really interesting video. Well done. People who view it should be hitting the like button.

I had a good chuckle at the comparison "these stations make Denistone look like Central".

This was great! Wouldn't it be cool if all little old rail lines had this level of infrastructure and services for residents.

It’s honestly so weird seeing you romp around my area of the woods. At uni I wrote an essay on why Victoria Street (my local) is the most important station in the Hunter. There’s some very interesting heritage resources around about the Hunter Line’s history, such as the bizarre Morpeth Branch.

I'm impressed the line is still being serviced at all. In New Zealand nearly all our passenger rail is gone.

I have done that trip many times just to fill in a morning and also have done Newcastle interchange to Singleton to have lunch with a mate them catch the Explorer back to Broadmeadow Station instead of the afternoon train. Once I did the Newcastle interchange to Singleton by train then car to Muswellbrook then a bus to Scone then the explorer back to Broadmeadow Station.

Shout out to Amy's (hopefully ironically) worn hat 😂 Great video guys

It's allways a good day hopping on youtube and seeing new Building Beautifully content

The NSW TrainLink Xplorer that runs from Moree, Armidale and Sydney DOES NOT STOP at Branxton, Greta and Lochinvar so Xplorer trains NP24 and NP23 run express from Singleton to Central

I was surprised to learn how long the 620/720 railcars were in service. The reason is the Endeavours that were going to replace them ended up working the southern lines instead. However, you do occasionally see Endeavours on these lines. I'm glad your hat reincarnated.

The Dungog Chronicle article is fully available on the Wayback Machine. Apparently it was difficult even for able-bodied people to ascend or descend safely, and "almost impossible" for a wheelchair, even a motorised one. It was estimated at a gradient of 1 in 3 (guidelines are between 1 in 20 and 1 in 14). So...yeah.

awesome video! i don't usually comment but this video was just excellently produced. graphics, details and the humour - absolutely nailed it this time.

It's a miracle these stations are still open

Fun. 🙂 I think this is my favourite video of yours so far this year.

Very enjoyable video. I used to drive trains along this line. I remember these wayside stop stations being built.

Love these videos!

Caught the train from Scone to Newcastle in the 90s - Recently drove to Allandale (where 2 blokes routinely got on with surfboards) and Belford, about where Hermitage Rd crosses the main line now… no sign of either station. The old station buildings at Lochinvar were still there in 1998. There were remnants of oakhampton a few years ago though last time I went for a look- just bits of the platform

The editing was hilarious great vid🔥

I enjoyed this video very much. I worked as clerk in the ticket office at Moree 1972 for about 7 years and Gunnedah for 18 months. I have a love of trains. I am now retired and living in Brisbane.

i once had an NDIS client and his thing was trains he taught me so much about trains and especially the hunter line. we went to the library and looked up all the old stations and where the steam trains stops once stood. did a lot of driving through the hunter country side. was cool to look through the past on trains in the hunter thanks for the video.

Wollarobba has a rural fire service station. I also recall a local former church being offered for sale there (on the Dungog Road). Wirragulla is near the junction of Dungog Road with the road to Clarence Town, so might get some "customers" from there. Curiously, "Wiragulla" station (note the spelling) is listed on a PTC list of NSW stations as "closed on 20/10/1975". Very odd; obviously not closed! BTW the 32 Class shown at 9:35 is one of the only two 32s (then P Class) built as compounds. The experiment didn't work out well and both were soon change to standard types.

omg I LOVE AMY's T SHIRT with the WII PLAY FISH. I NEEEED IT.

A great idea for your next holiday would be the Byron Bay Solar Train.

Nice deep dive into an area very few of us get to see! I took a trip from Newcastle Interchange to Dungog one Saturday, the 5:49am and 1:11pm trains weren't practical, so I had to get the 9:33am XPT from Broadmeadow. I didn't find much to do there, the usual shops and cafe, a bakery, a brewery, and randomly a mountain bike park with lots of trees. I was ready to leave after an hour, but the next train was 5 hours later, so I walked around the bike park and then hung out at the brewery. It was a lovely scenic train ride but one visit is enough. The Scone line is now the only section of the Opal network I've never been to, but if it's anything like Dungog I'm in no rush.

Hi, I used to travel most weekdays on the hunter line (Dungog to Maitland 2002-2003, then later Dungog to Warabrook 2016-2020) , the numbers you mention do seem a little low and I don't know if that counts concession tickets since from memory there were a semi decent number of people jumping on the morning train (6:30 am from dungog) and the late train (6:00 pm from maitland). For me that train was a lifeline as it was how I could afford to travel to university.

fun vid mate. ive taken the XPT from Maitland to Coffs Harbour and iirc, it took about 6 hrs to do. it was fun but got super boring with no internet + no phone charges for the trip 💀 but the pies on from the trains shop was delicious

Loch-in-vAR...the r is not silent....and there is a LockinvEr You are indeed fortunate that trains still run on the historic Hunter line...there are many , many other historic lines in NSW that are overgrown with weeds.

Shoutout out to all these stations. Growing up in Dungog and being able to catch the train to Wallarobba or Paterson was great; or all the way to Sydney. Have had interactions with every one of these stations. When I first riding the train it was the Red Rattlers too! You could open the windows, which was awesome. Even had the pleasure of one breaking down on a journey.

I've actually seen some people get on at Wallarobba one time... I wonder where they are now...

The combo fishing hat and t-shirt is a very strong look.

Now you'll need to do the scone line. Scone to Nowra video!

as a former wheelchair user, ramps have a maximum incline they can be for accessibility, I think its something like 12deg. that's why they are so long.

Couple of comments from a local - East Maitland station is also weird. Victoria Street opened to replace the original East Maitland station and was the original terminus before the line was extended to Maitland and was an interchange with Maitland's Steam Tram network. It has one of the oldest surviving station buildings on the whole network. The new East Maitland station then opened just 400m away, but then the old one never closed and got renamed to Victoria Street. Today East Maitland mostly serves the old Maitland Gaol which is still used as an event venue, and also Grossman High School. There is also a disused platform next to the parking lot showing where the old branch line to Morpeth Branch Line used to be - Victoria Street is the busiest station after Newcastle Interchange on the Hunter Line. It serves the town Centre of East Maitland and the was once a Tram Line between East Maitland and Telarah. It now also serves the Maitland Hospital. - Technically three stations serve East Maitland (Metford, Victoria Street, and East Maitland), three for Maitland (High Street, Maitland, Telarah) - Tarro is also a fairly underused station that I don't really understand - Hexham does get a bit more use from shift workers as it's in a mostly industrial area. You'll see more people early morning and late at night. -Sandgate is next to Newcastle's largest cemetery and there used to be a small branch line with a station inside the cemetery. A bit like Lochinvar it is a hassle for pedestrians. - Lochinvar is two KMs from the town, but since they removed the level crossing you have to walk over the road bridge, then up the ramps to the other platform. It's crazy. It may get more useful later because of all the housing developments happening in the area. - Wirragulla is the only station not voiced by Taylor Owynns - Mindaribba and Paterson (kinda) serve the nearby Tocal Agricultural College. Mindaribba is named after the local tribe from the Wonnarua people. As you said in the video Midaribba is super weird because it's only accessible from one side of a passing loop - For just $2.80 on a weekend, you can use your Opal Card to travel from Scone all the way to Bathurst, Goulburn, or Bomaderry

I live right near a Hunter Line station (not one of these tiny stations though!) and really enjoyed this video. I find the line really useful, especially between Maitland and Newcastle, which I think is a key route to the further development of the Hunter region. So easy to hop on a train and get into Newcastle for work or socializing without always having to drive. There's even been times I've changed trains at Hamilton to take a day trip ALL the way down to Sydney to have lunch with Sydney-based friends...so funnily enough I would actually be one of those strange hypothetical Hunter residents who might want to know what was going on with Sydney local trackwork! Obviously it takes a while to get down to Sydney, but then so does driving and you save an absolute shitload on petrol costs - plus you can just read or watch movies or just stare out at the scenery (which can be beautiful, especially around the Hawkesbury), and you don't have to worry about Sydney parking costs or availability! I use the Hunter Line way more than I thought I was going to do when I first moved up here and I've become a bigger train fan than I ever thought I'd be. With more and more people being pushed out of Sydney and the cost of petrol rising persistently, folks should really try to think of more creative ways to utilize public transport in NSW rather than just defaulting to their car every single time.

LOL... love your work!

In the late 90s i did an apprenticeship as a Railway Signal Electrician, we covered this entire area. There was some places in the hunter that i never knew existed until we visited them to perform maintenance or for a failure!! Fun times!!!

Incredible.

Great videos! When are you showing us the sydney cycleways? And when are you doing a video on how to fix western Sydney congestion? Also penrith is doing a new bus stop program. Could you look at how we can do bus stops for hot climates without hostile street furniture?

I didn't have high expectations of this video but I must say it was fascinating. As a passenger every year or so on the North Coast XPT trains, I pass through many of these stations but didn't know they existed. The fact that they are still there is a tribute to the NSW Railways providing a public service and not thinking they are a just a business. Long may it remain.

The use of 2 car single deck trains is so fascinating to me, throughout Sydney trains typically have 8 cars and are double decked which is what I'm overwhelmingly used to. It's very cute and fits with the rest of the line very well.

Being a local listening to you pronouncing Lochinvar without the "r" on the end was like fingernails down a chalkboard. Lol! A great video showcasing the line though. Nice work!

Came here for the awesome thumbnail, stayed for the video

Soo good to have kept you on my subscribed list and now Nice to see you with a gorgeous partner Glad she enjoys your crazy stuff

Great video. Eventually you’ll probably find more development along the Maitland to Dungog corridor which means the stations will become more frequented (and probably even extended and updated). The ramp at Lochinvar is truly strange. I read people mentioning something about the gradient of land being the reason. But surely they could have just made a level crossing nearby to cut costs.

So the 'goods shed' at Paterson (also Martins Creek) was actually the signal box before CTC signalling went in, and the 'station residence' was in fact, the good shed! Great vid.

That thumbnail 🤣🤣🤣

I remember my first time catching the hunter line from hamilton to maitland and was fascinated with the single decker diesel trains having been used to the tangaras and waratahs from living on both the t4 and t8 lines. I always love watching the scenery go past with the paddocks and mountains when travelling on the line. I also find it fascinating how both maitland and east maitland both have 2 stations and find connections to them rather lackluster. Last time i went up i ended up walking up to the maitland riverfront for half an hour simply waiting for the bus that goes down to Kurri Kurri. Its also sad to see the lack of usage of the lines out to scone and dungong which have a lot of potential for urbanisation to help spread the population out of Sydney. Despite those negatives you got to love yhe utilisation that the line gets despite the population that lives near it.

12:17 That's today! My B-Day! I am 22 now, and I just stumbled upon this video, today too.

Now we need a video on the rest of the line to Newcastle and the Newcastle Light Rail!

Pedantic I know 🙂but the High Street station building was not replaced by that shelter. There was a small brick structure in between the two others. We used to spend many a weekend on that station 🙂 Loved the video. Fantastic watch as always.

These stations are perfect though because it means future suburbs can grow. One day we'll hopefully look at a line like this and see it as a frequent use line. Edit: also bro this is one of your best videos you should do more of these. If you want good station content with mad history you should check out the Bendigo line in Victoria (Melbourne -> Bendigo) and The Rosewood Line (Ipswich to Rosewood) in Queenland.

Ahh, Hilldale! My home town.

Excellent

even this gets more train service than las vegas

The Hunter line still only exists because it’s in a marginal electorate, and you missed something unique at Maitland station, the flood gates, which raise to stop it flooding

Yay for hunter line!!!!

Love the outro

I suspect some of the sheds might have been parcel / mail train stops. I am ancient enough to remember the parcel building at Chatswood

Next time do this using the train service 😂😂 thanks for a great video

The train stations that were closed were reopened in the early 90s due to community demand. The isolation and perceived abandonment was considered to be a factor contributing to rural depression and suicide rates, hence why they later "rationalised" the smaller stations together rather than deleting them again.

10:35 there’s 7 tracks side by side at Hexham. If you include the Aurizon rail yard there’s 14 tracks side by side. Then there’s the holding road just north of Hexham station too.

thanks folks, good video

Thumbnail was soo inspiring honestly… Jokes aside, great video as always Sharath! (by the way, there’s a tiny scratch on your new wallabies hat, you need to get rid of it right this very second)

i live near wirragulla, its quite useful to have train out here if you want to go to newcastle one day

Accessibility is great.

Not wrong about Lochinvar station being quiet. I’ve been driving coalies along this line for 14 years and seen people at Lochinvar twice. Pretty sure that bridge was built to make it wheelchair accessible without the maintenance of an elevator. It would be nice to have some stairs too. I’ve done the ramp walk about 3 times

Queensland also has some stations that are in the middle of nowhere. You have places on the North coast line like Traveston and Gympie North which are in the middle of absolutely nowhere. In fact Gympie North is a terminus station. The line beyond Nambour doesn’t get much service (only 2 trains a day + Both Tilt trains and spirit of outback).

FINALLY AT LAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darnick station on the line to Broken Hill is even shorter, Darnick station is just a set of stairs.

12:30 Those levers are called “Groundframes” which are released by an operators key and depending on how many levers are connected to the groundframe, seperate levers can be used to unlock one set of levers on one side of the groundframe and one lever on each groundframe is used to operate the MPI (Mechanical Points Indicator) white bar attached to the relevant groundframe