Railways and Tramways of Australia

Funeral train to church

 

Regular funeral trains from Sydney station to Rookwood Cemetery commenced on 1 April 1867.

 

Rookwood Cemetery is the largest in the southern hemisphere and has been in use since 1867. Funeral trains to Rookwood first departed from the main platforms at Sydney station, but a special Mortuary station in Regent Street was opened in 1869. It was designed by colonial architect James Barnet and is mostly sandstone with a slate roof. It remains in place but is not used regularly.

 

The Rookwood Cemetery railway branched off the Main Western Line at Haslem’s Creek (now Lidcombe). Services departed from Sydney at 9.15 am and 3.00 pm, conveying coffins and mourners. Trains proceeded slowly, being prepared to stop if required to pick up ‘corpses, mourners or clergymen’.

 

A large receiving house was opened at the Rookwood terminus in 1869. It was an elaborate sandstone building that was also designed by James Barnet. Features included a high roof, buttressed side walls, a bell tower, and angels adorning the archways at each entrance.

 

The cemetery line was extended in 1897 then extended again in 1908. The first station had several name changes, but by 1908 there were four stations named Cemetery Station Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4. Station buildings at the other stations were much more basic than the first.

 

Road vehicles eventually took over the funeral business but a reduced service of trains for visitors continued to operate until they were withdrawn in 1948.

 

Following the cessation of funeral trains, Cemetery Station No. 1 fell into disrepair and the roof was destroyed by fire. The building was purchased by Reverend Ted Buckle for £100. It was dismantled and transported to Canberra, where it was reconstructed, being dedicated in 1959.

 

All Saints Church in Ainslie remains in use today.

 

Bibliography

J Forsyth, How & why of station names: meanings and origins…, 2nd edn, State Rail Authority of New South Wales, Archives Section, Sydney, 1982.

J Oakes, Sydney’s Central: the history of Sydney’s Central railway station, Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division), Sydney, 2002.

J Oakes, Sydney’s forgotten park and rural railways, Australian Railway Historical Society (NSW Division), Sydney, 2008.

CC Singleton, ‘Cemetery railways – I’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 127, May 1948, pp 67–9.