Springwood railway station

Springwood railway station is a heritage-listed former railway bridge and now railway station located on the Main Western line in Springwood, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by NSW Government Railways and built from 1883 to 1884 by John White, Chas. & Wm. Coghill & Thos. Proull. It is also known as Springwood Railway Station Group. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. The station opened on 11 July 1867. It previously had a passing loop to the east of Platform 1.

When the first railway line over the Blue Mountains was constructed in 1867 under the direction of John Whitton, a station at Springwood was opened. This location has been an important railway station for over 140 years, with several trains to and from Sydney starting and terminating here. The present brick main station building was constructed in 1884, at the same time as stations were built at Wentworth Falls and Lawson.

In the 1880s, the Blue Mountains started to become a popular holiday destination and this was reflected in the provision of new, brick platform structures to replace the initial timber buildings. Springwood received in 1886 the finest building on the Blue Mountains, apart from Mount Victoria. It was also a rare example of local, official involvement in the building design, with the District Engineer, Fred Avery, approving the architectural details.

A gate keepers cottage was located west of the station building (now privately owned) and is not part of this listing. Bathurst Road crossed the railway line on the western side of the station and the resident gatekeeper was responsible for manning the gates at the level crossing. A footbridge provided pedestrian access across the line. With only one line across the mountains at this stage, the station building faced north to the line and to the crossing loops that were then in place on the north side of the main line.

The railway line over the Blue Mountains was duplicated in 1902 necessitating alterations to most of the platforms on that line. In most cases a new station was built, but in the case of Springwood Railway Station, a new platform wall was built on the south side of the main station building and alterations to the main station building were undertaken to provide a shelter on that side of the station. This was probably when the building was also extended one bay to the east. The level crossing was replaced by a subway and the residence to the west of the railway station was removed to make way for the footbridge which provided access from the north and south sides of the station to the platform. A men's toilet block was built to the east of the main station building. It is not clear whether the footbridge was a modification of the earlier footbridge or a new construction.

A signal box was opened in 1935 within the building envelope. In 1995 the room in which the interlocking frame is situated was changed.

From the 1940s onward, Springwood was an important watering station for steam locomotives proceeding to Sydney. Whilst taking on water there, however, it was extremely difficult for locomotives to be positioned in the necessarily precise location because of the falling gradient.

Few changes were made to the station between 1902 and 1997. In 1998, station upgrading works were undertaken including the construction of a subway to provide pedestrian access from the north and south to the platform, replacing the 1902 footbridge, a lift between the subway and the main station building, and a new canopy over the west end of the platform to provide shelter to the subway and platform.