Railways and Tramways of Australia

Express train to a coal town

 

A new train service departed from Sydney on 5 February 1940: the Cessnock Express.

 

Cessnock is the largest population centre in the Hunter Valley and the region previously hosted numerous working coal mines. Privately-owned railways were established to provide coal haulage.

 

Passenger services also operated to Cessnock and beyond. South Maitland Railways operated its own passenger trains until 1930 when the New South Wales Government Railways began operating its trains over the private line. Connections were made at Maitland with services to Newcastle and other destinations.

 

With the introduction of the Cessnock Express, passengers were able to travel directly between Sydney and Cessnock on a daily service. The first run departed from Sydney at 5.07 pm. It was hauled by C36 Class 4-6-0 locomotive 3652 painted in green livery and consisted of five passenger carriages. At Broadmeadow a smaller 30 Class tank engine took over the train and hauled it through to Cessnock. The train stabled at Cessnock overnight and returned to Sydney the following morning, departing at 6.35 am. On the return journey the locomotive change occurred at Waratah.

 

South Maitland Railways introduced diesel railcars in 1961 to provide services between Cessnock and Maitland. The Cessnock Express continued to operate between Sydney and Broadmeadow, with a connecting diesel railcar service to Cessnock. The name Cessnock Express was withdrawn with the introduction of a new timetable on 11 November 1962.

 

Passenger journeys on the Cessnock Line were in sharp decline and South Maitland Railways operated its last passenger train from Cessnock on 24 January 1967. New South Wales Railways continued to operate a passenger service until 26 May 1972.

 

The coal mines are now silent. The station long gone. The rails are rusty. But Cessnock once boasted a daily express passenger train.

 

Bibliography

R Driver, ‘When diesels came to the South Maitland Railways’, Australian Railway History, no. 834, April 2007, p 154­–65.

S Halgren, ‘The Cessnock Express’, Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, no. 589, November 1986, p 243­–55.

S Halgren, ‘The Cessnock Express: it’s in the blood’, In Byways of steam 28, pp 114–41, Eveleigh Press, Sydney, 2012.