Hi all

Does anyone have list of intact gate keeper's cottages in NSW or any information or photos on the gate keeper's cottages that were once intact (now demolished) at Sydney Street and Brooks Street,  Muswellbrook?


Thanks

There is only one Gatekeepers cottage I know of still in existence and that is on the Mudgee Branch on the Portland/Pipers Flat road approximately 800 metres North of the Mudgee Branch/Main Line junction.
I believe both the house and land has been sold privately now.
The building is of Brick and stone, Corrugated Iron roof with some typical timber additions.

The last Gatekeeper occupant was a Mrs Ash whose husband was a Guard (Cecil Ash) based at Wallerawang whose prime job was to work the Oberon 'Flier'.

Type F lights and Bells were brought into use sometime in the 70's and that made the Gatekeeper and 2 JSA's jobs redundant.

There is only one Gatekeepers cottage I know of still in existence and that is on the Mudgee Branch on the Portland/Pipers Flat road approximately 800 metres North of the Mudgee Branch/Main Line junction.
I believe both the house and land has been sold privately now.
The building is of Brick and stone, Corrugated Iron roof with some typical timber additions.

The last Gatekeeper occupant was a Mrs Ash whose husband was a Guard (Cecil Ash) based at Wallerawang whose prime job was to work the Oberon 'Flier'.

Type F lights and Bells were brought into use sometime in the 70's and that made the Gatekeeper and 2 JSA's jobs redundant.

There is still one at Wongarbon. It is alongside the highway two kilometres on the Dubbo side of Wongarbon. The original road from Wellington to Dubbo was on the eastern side of the railway line from Geurie to Wongarbon and then crossed over the railway line 2 km north of Wongarbon. It is alongside the former two-story service station. The Kirk family that built the 2 story building lived in the cottage while it was being built.

Addition to above. Wongarbon was originally named Murrumbidgerie but renamed in 1913 to avoid confusion with the Murrumbidgee River. There was another cottage on the Sydney side of the present level crossing which I had the doubtful distinction of demolishing in the late 1980's. The outside toilet had a unique chimney, which people thought amusing. It was to vent burnoffs which were the common means of cleaning out the long drop toilet. It was last lived in by the porter at Wongarbon station.

Does anyone have list of intact gate keeper's cottages in NSW

Sandstone gatekeeperes cottages still extant at Valley Heights, Springwood, Medlow Bath, Mount Victoria, Marrangaroo, and one from Bulls Camp relocated to Lawson. All these I believe are privately owned and several are nicely renovated and in use as dwellings. There’s also a ruin at Lapstone. I’m sure there are still brick gatekeepers cottages standing at several locations around the state.

Does anyone have list of intact gate keeper's cottages in NSW

Sandstone gatekeeperes cottages still extant at Valley Heights, Springwood, Medlow Bath, Mount Victoria, Marrangaroo, and one from Bulls Camp relocated to Lawson. All these I believe are privately owned and several are nicely renovated and in use as dwellings. There’s also a ruin at Lapstone. I’m sure there are still brick gatekeepers cottages standing at several locations around the state.

What about the sandstone cottage located beside the gas station at Glenbrook which was formerly adjacent to the original rail line (nka Gt Western Highway)?

What about the sandstone cottage located beside the gas station at Glenbrook which was formerly adjacent to the original rail line (nka Gt Western Highway)?

Perhaps, but I think it might have been an SM's house? Looks different to the other Mountains gate houses.

There are several brick cottages around the state that I'm not sure about, an example being one near the level crossing above Amaroo.

Where the Servo is today at Glenbrook is part of the original station I was told many years ago.
I have friend who lived grew up there and his Father was a ASM there in 50's and 60's so will ask him does he know of any other railway building in the area.

It is possible that part of that old building may have included a residence for the Station Master.........

Where the Servo is today at Glenbrook is part of the original station I was told many years ago.
I have friend who lived grew up there and his Father was a ASM there in 50's and 60's so will ask him does he know of any other railway building in the area.

It is possible that part of that old building may have included a residence for the Station Master.........

The building is on the State Heritage Register, and the following is an excerpt from that register:

"The restored railway cottage and its stone privy are of high heritage significance, arguably at the state level. The stone house, built for the pointsman, was designed in 1870 in the office of John Whitton, the railway engineer in chief, to replace an earlier slab building occupied by the pointsman and his family. When the position of station-master was created in the later 1870s, the cottage became the station-master’s residence. After old Glenbrook station closed in 1913, the station-master initially continued to occupy this cottage and walked down to the new railway station. In 1926 the cottage was absorbed into the petrol station adjacent and encased in a large shed, from which it was released in 1996. The privy is a very rare survivor and preserves the three stone slabs on the south side which cover the exit pit. No other comparable railway residence survives on the mountains, although there are six gatekeepers’ stone cottages of a quite different Gothic style (two of them with surviving stone privies). The interior of the residence is in surprisingly good order and is sympathetically used as a store for the garage shop."

There is also a sandstone Gatekeeper's cottage at Picton and I think there is also one near Wallerawang station.

There are also two brick Gatekeeper's cottages at Goulburn to the same design.

Does anyone know where the Gatekeeper's cottage design came from? Were there any Gatekeeper's cottages in England?

Sorry I made a late night mistake. I think there is one at Bowenfels opposite the station (and I'm not talking about the station master's cottage).

Sorry I made a late night mistake. I think there is one at Bowenfels opposite the station (and I'm not talking about the station master's cottage).

You are right, it is a few hundred metres beyond Bowenfels station, on the Up side of the line, at the end of Fullagar Avenue. I wasn't aware of that one!

Bowenfels was an 'Open Crossing'  like Marrangaroo for many years until they installed the Type F Booms and Flashing Lights there which makes you wonder when it ceased being used to house a Gatekeeper considering it was and still is a busy crossing.

Bowenfels was an 'Open Crossing'  like Marrangaroo for many years until they installed the Type F Booms and Flashing Lights there which makes you wonder when it ceased being used to house a Gatekeeper considering it was and still is a busy crossing.

Different crossing, the main road used to cross the railway line several hundred metres west of Bowenfels and was probably replaced with the underbridge near the caravan park, when the line was duplicated and the current brick viaduct over Farmers Creek was built. The gatekeepers cottage was sold in 1941, according to the heritage register for Bowenfels station.

Did they have Gatekeeper's cottages in the UK?

Computer says "Yes" - simple Google search. Many images similar in design to those in NSW. Some more elaborate with Tudor half timbering.

Heard there was a signalmans cottage at Summit tank due to its remote location that housed two signallers who didn't exactly get along.
Often wondered what it looked like.

Hi all

Does anyone have list of intact gate keeper's cottages in NSW or any information or photos on the gate keeper's cottages that were once intact (now demolished) at Sydney Street and Brooks Street,  Muswellbrook?


Thanks

A cautionary tale about the occupational hazards faced by gatekeepers, as reported in the Muswellbook Chronicle, 8 June 1898 - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107014722/11565045

Reference in this article to demolished cottage at Muswellbrook - https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=4806182

Heard there was a signalmans cottage at Summit tank due to its remote location that housed two signallers who didn't exactly get along.
Often wondered what it looked like.

It seems they ranged from a simple one man cabin to a 2/3 bedroom house. I got the impression many on the Main North where it was just a
crossing loop were these cabins but between Bathurst and Blayney, I think they were houses.