Type : Station
Line : Dorrigo Branch
Distance from Sydney : 684.400km
Opened : 23 December 1924
Closed : 1972 (final train), 21st August 1975 (station closed)
Status : Reused
Name meaning : Aboriginal word meaning "girl"
Notes : Opened with a 377m interlocked loop. Down side platform was 30.4 metres long, yard held four 10 tonne cranes. Cranes and sheep race removed in 1964. Loop siding for ACI Case-Makers provided in 1960 - renamed to Lloyd's Siding in 1961.
Water Gin carriage Lowanna Railway Station NSW (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna NSW Railway Station (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna NSW - opposite the railway station. Sad to see it like this (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna Railway Station NSW (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna Railway Station NSW
View from the back of the station
(Sharon Rewell)
Loading bank, Lowanna (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna NSW
View of the Railway Station area
(Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna (Sharon Rewell)
The Railway Crane at Lowanna (Sharon Rewell)
Greg Lee:
That crane was electrically operated, and was installed not long before the line closed in 1972. Peviously there was a hand-operated crane at at Lowanna.
Lowanna NSW
Railway Station, maybe on the other side of the railway station loading timber My step Grandfather Albert Barbie ( Bert) pre 1959
(Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna Railway Station NSW
From my mother's photo album
(Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna Station (from the Glenreagh Mountain Railway page)
Lowanna (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna in April 1954 (F Reed)
Lowanna Station, 1984 (John W Kramer‎)
Lowanna (undated)
Lowanna (David Johnson)
Rolling stock at Lowanna ( emddl41)
Lowanna railway yard under construction (ND NSW State Archives collection)
Lowanna (1960s) (Colin Sutton)
Location of Lowanna (Dorrigo branch) (Six Maps)
Sunday, 30th August 1964 (Peter Neve)
Lowanna Train Station, photo taken in 2002 by Madeline Hoschke.
Lowanna Railway Station, 1985
Lowanna station, courtesy Ken Gibbs
1954 at Lowanna on the way to Dorrigo on 16/4/1954 (N Reed)
Greg Lee:
These photos were taken by the NSWGR archivist John Forsyth and are part of the State Rail photo collection at the State Archives NSW. They show 5088 and passengers on the Dorrigo Line on an ARHS (Australian Railway Historical Society) tour on Saturday 30th August 1964.
This photo is at Lowanna looking towards Dorrigo, and the assembled photo line. It is obvious that the region was in severe drought. Notwithstanding the drought, the lack of vegetation is remarkable, especially when you compare this scene with what it has been like in recent decades. There appears to be some privet or hawthorn along the fences, but other than that there is very little vegetation besides tussocks.
The Up Home signal is off, because the next train will be the excursion returning from Dorrigo. (The Up home signal is still there, but now lying on the ground after it fell down some years ago. GMR does nothing to maintain or preserve the infrastructure of the line, apart from Lowanna station building.)
The scans I have are high resolution so I have zoomed in and taken screen shots of the left and right sides. My descriptions are with the respective screen shots.
NSWRTM tour train at Lowanna, 26/11/1967
Lowanna, 1976
Lowanna, 1958 (C Winney)
NSWGR tour train at Lowanna, 30/8/1964 (Colin Simons)
Lowanna, January 2023 (Cindy Honeysett)
Lowanna, tour train, 30/8/1964 (A Grunbach)
Lowanna, Dorrigo branch, tour train, 30/8/1964 (A Grunbach)
Lowanna, 24/12/84 (Paul de Sauty)
Greg Lee :
This photo shows 1919 and train at Lowanna on the Up. Of interest is the timber waiting to be loaded by the hand operated jib crane. This crane was replaced by an electrically operated crane just before the line closed.
This photo and the one at Timbertop which I posted yesterday were almost certainly taken by Ron Preston on 27/28 December, 1957. Examination of the consist reveals it is identical to that shown in photos in Ron's book, Tender Into Tank. For those who haven't seen this book, it is highly recommended. Ron has a lovely style of writing, and the book is easy and interesting reading.
Ron describes in detail a trip from Glenreagh to Dorrigo and return on the dates above, and there are seven photos of the train at various locations. One assumes that after the trip Ron sent copies of his photos to the driver Vince Shipman, which is how they come to be in Marie Howlett's collection. Thanks to Marie for sharing these photos, and thanks also to Beth Scaysbrook.
Lowanna, undated (postcard - Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna, 1960s (Colin Sutton)
2024 - Lowanna Railway Station NSW (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna (1949) (Sharon Rewell)
Lowanna, Syd Ramsay
Lowanna, Syd Ramsay
Lowanna, Syd Ramsay