The Ropes Creek Line is a closed railway line in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia.
History
The Ropes Creek line was named after a nearby creek bearing the same name. It was built during World War II to transport munitions factory workers to and from St Marys. The line opened from St Marys to Dunheved on 1 March 1942 and Dunheved to Ropes Creek on 29 June 1942. When electrification arrived in the 1950s, there was a plan to electrify the Ropes Creek line. For the most part all the sidings in the Dunheved station area were electrified to enable the New South Wales Government Railways (NSWGR) to use electric locomotives of the 46 class to shunt trains without the need to change to diesel-electric or diesel-hydraulic locomotives.
While the line was being electrified, a new station named Cochrane was opened on 2 September 1957. Towards the end of train operation on the line, freight wagons were shunted into the Sims Metal plant which was about two kilometres from the junction with the Main Western line, and there was normally one passenger train in the morning and one in the afternoon, generally formed by a four-car single-deck suburban train, locally known as a red rattler.
The line was closed to passenger rail traffic in the early 1980s, following a downturn in passengers and munitions traffic, but remained open to freight traffic for Sims Metal. However, when that was switched to road traffic the line closed and lay idle for a number of years. On 22 March 1986, the line was officially closed forever, with an enthusiasts' special being the last train to traverse the section. Not long after that, the overhead power supply was removed.
Between Boxing Day 1990 and 8 January 1991 there was a major shut-down due to track work between St Marys and Glenbrook stations, and the line was temporarily reopened as far as Dunheved to allow suburban trains that normally stabled at Penrith to be stabled in the four-track yard, and on the platform 2 or "down" track on the branch. At the completion of the track work, the line was once again closed.
Overhead wiring for approximately 10 car lengths was retained at the St Marys end of the branch, where it turned off the main western line, to provide a terminating point for trains used on "Y" Link services. With the abolition of "Y" link services to St Marys in 2005, the overhead wiring and associated components were subsequently removed.
At Dunheved railway station, a fenced-in compound was constructed on the down branch and down no. 1 siding, and two suburban carriages - Comeng S set motor car C3866 and Tangara car N5127 - were stored there for use by the NSW Fire Brigade for training purposes. The carriages and the compound didn't last long because local vandals destroyed both vehicles.
Rails on the branch were still in place in 1996 but by 2001 track lifting had commenced. The first part of the line to be removed was the area outside Sims Metal, to allow the extension of Christie St between Dunheved Rd and across South Creek. The next section of track, the Links Rd level crossing, was covered with tar and concrete.
Electrification timetables
1 December 1957
Down:
5:15am. From North Sydney, all stations to Redfern, then Ashfield and all stations to Ropes Creek (except Rookwood). 5:28am. From North Sydney, all stations to Redfern, then Burwood and all stations to Ropes Creek (except Rookwood). 5:45am. From Granville, all stations to Ropes Creek. 7:33am. From St Marys, all stations to Ropes Creek (Dunheved, Cochrane & Ropes Creek). 2:00pm. From Hornsby, all to Redfern, the Burwood and all stations to Ropes Creek (except Rookwood).
Up: 6:55am. From Ropes Creek, all station to Lidcombe, then Strathfield, Burwood, Redfern, and all stations to Gordon. 7:07am. From Ropes Creek, all stations to Lidcombe, then Strathfield, Redfern, and all stations to North Sydney. 4:10pm. From Ropes Creek, all stations to Ashfield (except Rookwood), then Redfern, all stations to North Sydney, then Artarmon, and all stations to Hornsby. 4:16pm. From Ropes Creek, all stations to Burwood (except Rookwood), then Redfern, all stations to North Sydney, then Artarmon, and all stations to Hornsby. 5:18pm. From Ropes Creek, Cochrane, Dunheved & St Marys only.
Today
The formerly electrified line, which boasted three stations (Dunheved, Cochrane and Ropes Creek), has been truncated at the Sims Metal recycling facility on Christie Street, Dunheved, and all track and overhead wiring beyond that point has been removed.