Type : Station
Line : Ballina Branch
Distance from Sydney : 876.870km
Opened : 25 August 1930
Closed : 12 January 1949
Status : Closed
Name meaning : From the Irish place name "Ballina" (Beal an Atha) meaning "mouth of the ford"
Ballina, 1933 (copyright expired)
Ballina Railway Station, converted into a motel, 1953.
Cows waiting at Ballina Station (Peggy Finch)
Relocated Ballina station master's cottage in 2018 (Uniquely North Coast)
Location of the one time station at Ballina (now Saunders Park)
Construction of Ballina station in February 1930
Construction of Ballina station in February 1930
6/6/1923 - Ballina - Booyong railway celebrations (Tweed Museum)
Ballina station, official opening day 20/9/1930
Ballina (Noel Coombes)
Ballina station in 1952 (Ballina Historical Society)
Dismantling the Ballina to Booyong Railway Line 1950, Canal Rd, Ballina
Ballina (Noel Coombes)
Allen Richards:
As a young boy in the mid 1950's , my family lived in Lismore , and one of our Sunday afternoon drives was down the to Ballina .
The original road bridge across Fishery creek was about 1/2 a mile North of the now existing bridge, and crossed the next to the rail bridge .
From the bridge the old Ballina rail station building could be seen over to the left .
This building had been converted into a Motel ,
and as mentioned in another comment , was Ballina's first motel .
My father , who was born in and grew up in Ballina , would relate the history of the ill fated Ballina railway line .
The line was intended to branch out from Booyong .
However , as I recall , the branch did not actually start at Booyong station , but a few hundred yards down the track , resulting in passengers having to disembark onto the platform at Booyong and walk down to board the train to proceed on to Ballina .
Those of us who have lived in the area know only to well The wet weather cycles in summer and winter , that the far north coast is renowned for ,
Not making it very attractive to rail travelers to experience a walk in the rain to change trains .
Also , as I remember, dad related that the volume of rail travellers would never make the Ballina rail
link a viable project anyway .
Anyway , as they say , it is now all History .
The area of Saunders Park, Ballina, where Ballina Station used to be. (2018)
Document for the purchase of the station-master's house by Hannah Hobbs, in 1949.
It's 1949 and Hannah and George Hobbs feel like moving house. But they also feel like taking their old station master's cottage with them, so they do, piece by piece.
Left over from the days of the Ballina railway, the house was originally built near Saunders Oval and now stands in Tamar St, Ballina.
Postcard from the early 60s - the station is the large building in the middle of the park
Rail Motor #1 at Ballina (Records NSW)
1942 map showing the Ballina end of the Booyong-Ballina branch.
Ballina in 1952
Proposed turntable at Ballina (never constructed) (Records NSW)
Rail Motor shed at Ballina
Opening day at Ballina (State Archives)