Stanwell Park viaduct marks its centenary: A tribute in pictures

Passenger trains began travelling the magnificent engineering feat known as the Stanwell Park Viaduct in October 1920 when the rail deviation between Otford and Coalcliff was opened to traffic. The Hurstville Propeller reported on Friday 15 October 1920: OTFORD TUNNEL CLOSED. New Stanwell Park Station. At last the dreaded Otford Tunnel has been closed, and…

The wild men of 22 Mile Camp

By MICK ROBERTS © AMERICA’S Wild West could be considered tame compared to the wilderness separating Sydney from Illawarra’s far northern coal mining villages during the mid to late 1880s. Notorious shantytowns sprang up in the bushland to service the men who built the Illawarra Railway and they were no place for the faint hearted. The navvies…