The dimensions of Eumungerie's railway

Here's a litttle more about the physical environment at Eumungerie...

By the time of its 1926 redevelopment Eumungerie yard measured 613 linear metres (671 yards) from the outer-most extremities of the southern and northern points.  It remains at this length to the current day.

At its most expanded, approaching from the southern (Dubbo) end a right-hand point led trains off the Through Road into the Platform Road on the eastern or up side of the line.  

 The Platform Road measured 1,735 feet.  After traveling 824 feet along the Platform Road, a 31 metre (134 foot), wood-faced platform was encountered.  The Platform Road was removed on 7 September 1993, leaving the platform-based signalling equipment somewhat adrift from the railway’s alignment (I will deal with this act of vandalism in another post).

Again, coming from the Dubbo end of the yard, 168 feet beyond the first point off the Through Road a left-hand point led trains onto a 726 foot long Goods Siding on the western or down side of the line.  A loading bank was located 158 feet along this siding with a goods shed further north and a gantry crane.  The crane was located shortly before a right-hand point which returned north-bound trains to the Through Road.

Trains proceeding straight along the Goods Siding entered the Wheat Siding once the point had been passed.  This siding measured 1,049 feet before returning to the Through Road.  The silo bins were reached after 175 feet of travel on this siding.

Unlike the Through Road and the Platform Road, the Wheat Siding appears to have been built with a westward slewing of the track along the northern-most 446 feet of its travel.  This feature is shown in the 1926 NSWGR track diagram but appears to have been removed prior to the Second World War.  Its removal may have coincided with the construction of stock yards in this area around this time.

Not shown on the same 1926 track diagram but appears to be in place by 1945, is a similar slewing of the track in the Goods Siding, apparently in order to accommodate clearances around the gantry crane.

So, this has been a summary of the physical environment of the railway at Eumungerie.  Over the next few posts it is time to delve into certain aspects of the railway yard in much greater detail...