Station numbers on Edmondson tickets

Zen Dave · Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:06 am

For several years, I've been trying to compile a list of the station numbers that were printed at the bottom of some full-fare Edmondson tickets.

These are NOT the serial number that appears on nearly all tickets, NOR the printing plate number that appears on some NSW tickets, but rather the numbers that were clipped out when the ticket was sold at half-price. (The clipped section with the station numbers was the seller's justification to the auditors for less than the full amount for the ticket - according to the friendly staff at Glass House Mountains in 1991.) It's also NOT the Queensland TVM number.

Does anyone have a list of these in any state/territory, especially for either NSW or QLD, or know where a list might be? (I have good listings for VR and TGR but welcome any input.)

I apologise if this thread is in the wrong forum, but as opening dates of stations strongly influence the numbering, I thought this might be best.

For example, on the Ipswich line there is:
Milton 15, Auchenflower 462, Toowong 16, Taringa 17, Indooroopilly 18, Chelmer 19, Graceville 268, Sherwood 20, Corinda 116, Oxley 21, Darra 22 etc.

Auchenflower, Graceville and Corinda all opened after 1882-09-03, which is the opening date of the Ascot branch, and presumably (based on all QLD station numbers I have) the date the numbering scheme was introduced.

NSW is more complex, with most lines having affixes, and later stations on the line simply appending a suffix to a nearby number. For example, newcastle to Glen Innes has N1 to N64, with Maitland as N15. The branch to Cessnock has N15A to N15I, with an extra N15CA and N15FA.

Similarly, Sydney has:
Milsons Point 173A, North Sydney 1NS, Waverton 173B, Wollstonecraft 173C, St Leonards 174, Artarmon 174A, Chatswood 175, Roseville 175A, Lindfield ???, Killara 175AB, Gordon 176, Pymble ???, Turramurra 177, Warrawee 177B, Wahroonga 177A, Waitara 177AA, Hornsby N82 etc.

Hornsby to St Leonards opened 1890-01-01, although PTC/NSW "Station Names" shows that Roseville, Lindfield, Pymble and Wahroonga also opened with the line! (Some stations had different names at opening.)

Milsons Point (old) to St Leonards opened 1893-05-01, but presumably 171, 172 and 173 were already taken.

Cheers,
Ewan