The Metropolitan goods line ran from Wardell Rd Junction to Darling Harbour
passing through the suburbs of Dulwich Hill, Summer Hill, Lewisham, Haberfield,
Leichhardt, Annandale, Glebe, Pyrmont as well as Darling Island, before passing
under Pyrmont Bridge Road at Pyrmont Bridge to enter Darling Harbour and of
course continue through and rejoin the Main lines at or near Mortuary Station. In
its heyday, it, was the main route for Coal, wheat and other goods
into and from Rozelle Goods Yard as well. The system of operation was that of
Block Telegraph, where a train has to have actually arrived at the station in
advance or passed, before a further train can be admitted into the section. The signal boxes on this line were Wardell Rd, Long Cove, Charles St.,
Balmain Rd., Darling Island, Union St., and Ultimo St. There is and was a flour
mill located near to the viaduct at Lewisham, with the next siding being
Long Cove, which controlled the entry to and from the Australian Army Ordinance
Stores located between the rail line and the Hawthorne Canal. The next signal
box controlled only a small siding at Charles St., this being a very short
section from Long Cove, the next signal box was Balmain Rd. Jct controlling the
entrance and exit from Rozelle Yard. From here the line continued alongside
Brennan St Annandale before turning and running parallel to and crossing over
The Crescent, before passing Harold Park and the Rozelle Tram Depot and
entering the tunnel under Glebe. After emerging from the tunnel near Bayview St
Glebe, the line continued over Wentworth Park, past Gillespies Flour Siding and
onto Darling Island and point beyond. During World War II the line was extremely busy with Troop and Ordinance
trains making up quite a large chunk of the traffic. As a child I can recall
seeing troop trains heading towards darling Island for embarkment at 13 Pyrmont
as well as other wharves, the freight being carried was not always on display
although I can recall seeing aircraft (with wings elsewhere) on wagons in the
train. The Normal traffic on the line as stated before was general goods, wheat, coal,
explosives, (carried in four wheel PV's, destined for the explosives shed
adjacent to in the vicinity of wharf 10). During wartime it was not unusual to
see all the local children out scavenging the coal that had fallen from the
Locos and the wagons, for use at home. The number of Billy carts etc would have
put Pitt St, in the peak hour, to shame. Long Cove and Charles St were closed just after the end of the war, the
section then being Wardell Rd to Balmain Rd.(although Long Cove was sometimes
opened up to allow traffic into and out of the Ordinance Stores) The Goods line from Balmain Rd Signal box to
Darling Harbour was closed to allow the building of the Sydney Casino. The line
lay dormant for a time, used only by the Light rail as far as Wentworth Park.
However it was reopened as far as Catherine St Lilyfield on 13/08/2000 for use
by the Light Rail Network.