SideTracked - Canterbury (NSW) Traditional Geocache

This cache is part of the SideTracked series and is the first one in NSW. You'll find yourself at the old signalbox - watch out for approaching muggles!!

About the SideTracked Series

SideTracked Caches are intended to provide quick park and grabs at or around train stations. SideTracked started at Evesham station on August 10th 2007, placed by schnarff & bikermel76. It took a while to get started, but is now spreading across the world! You can find out more on the SideTracked website.

Canterbury Station

Line: T3 - Bankstown Line
Opened: 1 February 1895

Canterbury is located on the Sydenham to Bankstown Railway which was opened as far as Belmore on 1 February 1895. The line had its origins in Railway Commissioner Goodchap’s 1882 recommendation that an additional line was needed between Newtown and Liverpool to relieve traffic on the Southern Line and to encourage agriculture and suburban settlement. Lobbying by local interest groups and land speculators achieved Parliamentary approval by 1890 and construction commenced in 1892. The most important stations on the line, Belmore, Canterbury and Marrickville, were built with impressive near-identical brick buildings, the other intermediate stations (Campsie, Dulwich Hill and Hurlstone Park) receiving more modest timber buildings (later replaced), possibly reflecting economies of the depression of the 1890s. The depression suppressed the profitability of the line and the extension to Liverpool did not proceed. However, suburban development followed in the early twentieth century, particularly during the interwar period when many War Service homes were built west of Canterbury. The line was extended to Bankstown in 1909 (and then to Regents Park in 1928, making it part of a loop line through Lidcombe), its justification by then being the servicing of suburban development.

Canterbury Station was expanded in 1915 in conjunction with construction of the Metropolitan Goods Line. It has three platforms, only two of which are now used. One of the platforms faces one of the two goods lines. Canterbury Park Racecourse is adjacent, and a branch line formerly led to sidings used on race days (now demolished).

Canterbury signal box was commissioned on 13 December 1915 as part of the resignalling and track alterations of Canterbury station in preparation for the opening of the new Metropolitan Goods Line from Lidcombe via Enfield Marshalling Yards to Rozelle, in April 1916. The signal box was constructed with a mechanical interlocking lever frame using 68 of the 72 possible lever positions, which controlled the operation of signals and points in a set sequence.

The signal box controlled all train movements through Canterbury on both the Bankstown suburban line and Metropolitan Goods line. Through ancillary lever frames ‘B’ and ‘C’, the signal box controlled the storage sidings for the Canterbury Racecourse special trains and the shunting of the local goods sidings.

Two extensions have been added to the signal box. The western annex in 1937, and the eastern annex in 1968 to provide additional space to accommodate signalling relays, circuits and equipment. In 1994 a start was made on replacing the life expired signalling system and equipment on the Bankstown line and the Metropolitan Goods line. This resulted in the closure of Canterbury signal box on the weekend of 30/31 December 1996. After its closure it was sealed in its ‘as closed condition’ by the Heritage Section of the State Rail Authority to preserve the building and its internal signalling equipment.

Information sourced from NSW Office of Environment and Heritage.

The Future

This station, and those along the Sydenham to Bankstown line, will be converted from heavy rail into a metro style service called The South West Metro project with work due to begin in 2018. I encourage you, along with your log, to take as many photos of the station and its surrounds and add them to the gallery to help keep a pictorial journal of the changes that will be happening in the not too distant future. Two reference points are listed as suggested photo taking spots, but feel free to document any interesting things you see.