Clearfield

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Type : Station
Line : North Coast Line
Distance from Sydney : 769.724km
Opened : 6 November 1905 (as a water tank), named Clearfield 11 March 1913
Closed : 6 November 1974
Status : Closed
Name meaning : Named after the nearby racecourse of the same name
Notes : Originally only a water tank when the line section opened (the location had a watertank with a 203mm bore jib) and named to Clearfield 11/3/1913 when the 74.39 metre Up side platform was built. Water facilities closed in 1966 - water was pumped from a creek by steam plant at the 769.876 mark. 28/7/1976 - 90kl tank removed - removal was done poorly and caused a tank wall to fall on a passing Motorail per
per John Shields.

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Location of the one time station at Clearfield. The location opened in 1905 as "Watertank" and was renamed in 1913 after the nearby racecourse of the same name. At one time there would have been a small village here as the primary references mention a school and at least one church (and possibly two).

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Ray Geraghty:

Clearfield was the blockpost for divisible electric staff working between Camira Creek and Rappville

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Location of the one-time station at Clearfield (
supplied)

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John Shields states : when the tank was being demolished in the late 70s, the contractors had left for the night leaving the wall nearest the main line still standing. It fell just before they started work the next day, just as the car carriers on the Gold Coast were passing. It cleaned up all the cars on the top deck of the car carrier. There was one hell of a scurry around Murwillumbah and the Tweed that morning to have courtesy rental cars available by the time the train eventually arrived. All of them were written off.

(image: John Shields)

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CLEARFIELD, between Grafton and Casino, was a watering point for steam locomotives.  In this image, oil-fired 4908 stops briefly for a drink while hauling an RTM tour special, Friday, 25th April 1969. (Peter Neve)

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Clearfield watering plan.