Warialda Rail - a brief history

WARIALDA RAIL - A recreation reserve of fifteen acres was declared in August 1911. The secretary S. Robinson called tenders for fencing the reserve in January 1913 and in March the first use of the recreation ground at Kelly’s Gully took place on March. A permanent Common was dedicated on 18 March 1927. In April 1930 tenders were called for construction of a C.W.A. Hall. Sallway’s Estate consisting of a number of allotments near the railway station as well as grazing and farming sites were offered for sale in March 1914. Formerly known as Kelly’s Gully, the Warialda Historical Society has published ‘Reminiscences from 1910’ by Linda Balston as well as a story of Burgaria. The public school was originally known as Kelly’ Gully; the railway station as Warialda and the locals referred to the area as the Gully.

The railway station was located at Warialda Rail. Today a former hotel situated to the west of the platform, a cluster of houses, a railway yard and industrial heritage, steel lines, crane, sidings and a prominent wheat silo survive. In the mid 1970s a goods train came through every weekday and rail motors four days a week.

The Warialda Railway yard once included a crossing loop located in the Inverell end of the platform; two home signals on the approach from Moree (one to protect the platform and the other on the Inverell side to protect the crossing loop). The timber station building with its twin gables was situated opposite the goods siding, with its galvanised iron goods shed, hand crane and wool ramp.

Extensions served the stock-races (near the loop line) and a ‘back loading’ siding provided additional accommodation for wool and grain loadings. A short extension of this latter siding gave access to the bulk fuel depot of Shell Oil, opened on 3 February 1930; a bank of concrete silos was erected by the Grain Elevators Board in 1934 and a local business operated by H. Moore was provided with a special loading site in the yard after 1937.

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