Railways and Tramways of Australia

Tramway to railway

 

The opening of the railway to Toronto in New South Wales was celebrated on 17 June 1911.

 

A private tramway connected Toronto, on the shore of Lake Macquarie, with Fassifern on the Sydney–Newcastle railway in 1891. A service was provided for the following 18 years until the line closed in 1909.

 

The New South Wales Government purchased the tramway for £500 in 1910. Tram services commenced on 21 August using steam tram motor no. 61A and trailer no. 609. Additional rolling stock arrived later. Work also began to upgrade the track to railway standards, including some realignment of the route.

 

Direct train services between Newcastle and Toronto commenced on 28 May 1911, and the official opening of the line as a railway was celebrated with a banquet at the Toronto Hotel on 17 June. After the banquet, visitors travelled around the lake in a boat.

 

Services on the Toronto line were operated mostly by Z20 Class 2-6-4 and C30 Class 4-6-4 tank engines. A yard, engine shed and goods shed were provided at the terminus. 48 Class diesels later worked the line but eventually two-car diesel railcars were the mainstay of passenger services. Following electrification of the railway line to Newcastle in 1984, railcars operated a shuttle service between Fassifern and Toronto, rather than directly from Newcastle.

 

It was eventually decided to close the Toronto Line, with the final day of services designated as Saturday 10 March 1990. The last service from Newcastle to Toronto and return consisted of 768/668, 765/665, carried a headboard reading ‘Last run 10/3/90’, and was decorated with streamers. A large crowd was on board, and after some delays it finally departed from Toronto around 12.20 am on the Sunday morning.

 

It was the end for a tramway that became a railway.

 

Bibliography

J Casey, ‘Gone, but not forgotten: the Toronto branch’, Roundhouse, vol. 60, no. 4, Spring 2023, pp 29–37.

B Cook & G Ryan, ‘Farewell Toronto: the last day of services on the Toronto Line’, Railway Digest, vol. 28, no. 5, May 1990, p 177.

R Eslick, ‘Toronto to close’, Rail Australia, no. 14, April 1990, pp 18–19.

D Hartley, Toronto’s railway heritage, Lake Macquarie & District Historical Society, 2011.

K McCarthy, ‘The Fassifern to Toronto tramway’, Trolley Wire, May 1995, no. 258, pp 10–15.

‘Toronto railway: completion celebrated’, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate, 19 June 1911, p 4.