Along the Lines: A Journey Through Sydney's Historic Sandown Line

Join us to day as we embark on cab ride from Sandown station to Clyde and return pausing at the now closed railway stations less than 12 months before passenger operations ceased on the once useful branchline.
The Sandown Line, situated in Sydney's western suburbs, originated as the Bennett's Railway and opened on 17 November 1888. Branching off from the Carlingford line near Camellia station, it was electrified in 1959. The line had three main passenger stations: Sandown, Hardies, and Goodyear, with Goodyear closing first. It served numerous factories, industrial sites, and sidings, including the Commonwealth Sidings built in 1943 for a military stores complex. Connections from these sidings linked to other lines and wharfs, but many of these gradually fell into disuse after World War 2.
The line provided an electric suburban service post-electrification and supported passenger services for the Abattoirs line until November 1984. Passenger services stopped in December 1991, and freight services concluded in June 2010. The racecourse platform at Rosehill remained operational for special trains until 2019. Overhead wires were taken down in 2002, and traffic was officially suspended in October 2016.
The line's western end has been repurposed for the Parramatta Light Rail project to offer access to a maintenance facility. This led to the line's official closure on 1 July 2019, with track removal starting that month. Plans are also underway to incorporate this branch into the second stage of the Parramatta Light Rail network, linking Camellia and Olympic Park.

[@BigRode1008]

I came here almost weekly for years to shunt goods until 1994. The good old days that can only be understood by them who experienced it. Thankyou for this vide, the good memories that are so valuable and to be cherished. 👍👍

[@brettbroadbere2614]

Remember my Dad working at Camelia station in the 70s and 80s and watching the Freight trains head down Sandown…

[@davidrayner9832]

I was a driver at Flemington from 1985 to '95 and must've been along there hundreds of times.

[@astapic]

Hi David,just watched it now,it’s a good one.

[@robertthomson1587]

Fascinating historical footage.

[@dennisforner6090]

Much appreciated - the Sundown line was one of the few Sydney metropolitan lines I didn't get to travel on. In my youth, I aimed to try all of them, especially the ones less traveled. For some reason I missed this one - thank you for uploading this.🙃

[@edwardtsoukalidis2071]

Thank you. I always thought that the Sandown line was just an industrial line. When I was young, I used to think that a job at the Dog Box would have been great.

[@Noddy2750]

My dad was a train driver back then and he used to let me drive the train between Werrington & Kingswood Great fun 👍

[@graememellor8319]

As a guard we used to stable the race trains down the branch while Rosehill Races were on, some of the crews had a day at the races others had a sleep between runs..

[@allanliversidge9827]

Very interesting,, love old single deck suburbans. Started working life at ETR Hornsby 1963.. bradfield cars ( wooden donk's), wooden trailers , Tullocjs Leeds forge cars. Not aign.of a double decker. Great crew at Hornsby. The days when a railway worked simple and functional. Great memories. 👌

[@IntuitiveGanesh]

Very cool.

[@rickschonfelder2977]

Excellent video! Really loved seeing this.

[@johnmaddox4403]

Nice vid! Slow speed on sandown line! Never rode on it but saw 2 car s set at sandown station. Jm

[@PBeringer]

When SETS ran the "Last Electric Loco to Sandown", using 4615, I'm almost certain that it was the first and _only_ electric loco to ever work the line. Anyone ever heard of other electric locos working on the Sandown Line?

[@dieseldavetrains8988]

Seem to recall a shunt into Jack Seatons container yard a number of years back, as well as doing the fuel tankers, thanks Allan, well researched and very informative... What's with the Kiwi on the screen at Clyde (7.22 to 7.37)??👌

[@allan.armstrong]

The kiwi is just a easter egg I throw in occasionally to make sure a mate from NZ watches all the way through. Just a bit of fun 😂 I do have video of shunting taking place at Sandown I cut it from this video as it didn't really fit with the theme of the video. I'll definitely put it in another video eventually!

[@kaiwhara]

I found the Kiwi on the second pass!

[@astapic]

Great video of when train’s actually ran on the Sandown line,this is rare footage,thanks for posting,Allan.

[@richardpiva3892]

@@astapicsemi retired foamer has a video of a passenger trip from 1986 of Sandown too. Both excellent footage.

[@BigRode1008]

@@allan.armstrong Oh yeah please upload that shunting clip, who knows maybe I can see myself in action, that would be a sight. 🤣🤣

[@user-zr9mu6cm7l]

Thanks for this. I’ve never seen the journey from Clyde to Sandown. Was that the Goodyear station that was passed after leaving Sandown ?

[@melglobus]

Yes-it went Sandown, Goodyear, Hardies, Rosehill. Apparently Goodyear closed before the other two and the line shut in 1991. I went by car looking for any signs of these stations about 15 years ago (when it was still open to freight)-couldn’t find any platforms at that time. Pity!

[@jasonjohnson1178]

Outstanding

[@whatsupshittafabraans1926]

Here me thinking there was a race course nearby, & not Rosehill,

[@Justice4all_001]

I thought Sandown was a race track for cars not trains? Train racing? It does exist but only rarely

[@SaintKimbo]

Different Sandown, you are thinking of Sandown in Melbourne, where it's a Horse and car race track combined. This is, or was, Sandown near Parramatta sydney, which was a Station at the end of a short line that served the large factories that were in that area in those days, behind Rosehill Racecourse.

[@whatsupshittafabraans1926]

Trains were quicker at stops in those days, none of this doors opening and closing riff raff

[@paulgerrard9227]

Now part of the new light rail en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandown_railway_line. It lives on.