Type : School platform
Distance from Sydney : 235.000km (approximate)
Location : -32.482526, 151.725296
Opened : Prior to 1954 (platform constructed 1954)
Closed : Unknown
Status : Closed
Name meaning : Named after the property owners
Notes : Associated with the property at 1768 Dungog Rd. Located on the Up side of the line immediately adjacent to the level crossing. (courtesy Allan Eyb) - a little wooden platform used by school children to attend Wallarobba Primary School, Maitland Girl's High, Maitland Boy's High and Maitland Marist Brothers. Built by Ken Ninness, who lived with his mother in the house immediately north of the platform on a property owned by Charlie Eyb. Ken Ninness worked for the railway and the platform was made from railway sleepers and also had a steep ramp made from sleepers. (courtesy Brenda Hogg) - Brenda Hogg: When I started school in 1954 the platform was just being built and prior to that the guard Ab Trappel would lower a ladder and we climbed up into the train. One of several locations on the line that is well attested to but the WNs are silent on.
Styephen Joseph Miller's piiics of the location in June 2020
Brenda Hogg:
When I started school in 1954 the platform was just being built and prior to that the guard Ab Trappel would lower a ladder and we climbed up into the train. Very exciting for a six year old. Our cousins Rosalie and Warren Marquet also caught the train to Wallarobba school from this stop, as well as my younger sister, Jill.
Lance Lyon:
Brenda - it's anecdotes like these that help fill in the gaps - I got into a rather long email "argument" with one of the so-called "gods of the railways" who claimed this never existed because it never appeared in the Weekly Notices - despite several other references and info from other people (including the exact location from Allan Eyb) . My suspicion is that there are other school platforms that I haven't yet located because they aren't attested to in the "official" documentation of the railways.
Brenda Hogg:
The "Marquet Farm" platform was. says our father Merv Marquet, built by Ken Ninness, who lived with his mother in the house immediately north of the platform on a property owned by Charlie Eyb. Ken Ninness worked for the railway and the platform was made from railway sleepers and also had a steep ramp made from sleepers to enable us to get up to the platform. Ken's brother Reg Ninness worked for Charlie Eyb.
Marquet's Farm (Stephen Joseph Miller)
# Marquet's Farm (North Coast Line)
## Entries from NSW Government Railways Weekly Notices, 1910–1989
---
**Type:** School Platform (Informal — not formally gazetted)
**Line:** North Coast Line (Wallarobba–Dungog section)
**Distance from Sydney:** 235.000 km (approximate)
**Location:** -32.482526, 151.725296
**Between:** Wallarobba and Dungog
**Opened:** 1954
**Closed:** Unknown
**Status:** Closed
**Name meaning:** Named after the property owners (the Marquet family)
**Side of line:** Up side, immediately adjacent to level crossing
**Associated property:** 1768 Dungog Rd
---
> **No formal entry found in the NSW Government Railways Weekly Notices 1910–1989.**
>
> Marquet's Farm platform does not appear by name or by kilometre/mileage reference in any Weekly Notice examined. This is consistent with its informal nature — the platform was not formally gazetted or authorised through the standard NSW Railway administrative process.
>
> The level crossing at **Mileage 146m 70ch** (Cemetery Gates, between Wallarobba and Dungog) is referenced in W.N. 49–1955 as being unattended with spring hooks and chains — this is the closest formal WN reference in the area, but relates to a different crossing from the one adjacent to the platform.
---
## Historical Notes (from community sources)
> *Courtesy Allan Eyb:*
>
> A small wooden platform used by school children to attend **Wallarobba Primary School, Maitland Girls' High, Maitland Boys' High and Maitland Marist Brothers**. Located on the Up side of the line immediately adjacent to the level crossing at the property at **1768 Dungog Road**.
>
> The platform was **built by Ken Ninness**, who lived with his mother in the house immediately north of the platform on a property owned by **Charlie Eyb**. Ken Ninness worked for the railway and the platform was made from **railway sleepers**, with a steep ramp also made from sleepers.
> *Courtesy Brenda Hogg:*
>
> "When I started school in **1954** the platform was just being built, and **prior to that the guard Ab Trappel would lower a ladder and we climbed up into the train.**"
> **Note:** The detail that the guard "would lower a ladder" for children to board before the platform was built is a vivid reminder of how informal the arrangement was at the most local level of the NSW railway network. The platform's construction by a railway employee from railway sleepers — but without appearing in any formal notice — suggests it was tolerated rather than officially sanctioned. The 1946 staff exchanger tables, the 1955 speed tables, the 1961 speed tables and the 1982 CTC installation notices all pass through this area without any mention of the platform.
---
## Summary
| Date | Event |
|------|-------|
| Pre-1954 | School children boarding trains at this point by guard's ladder (guard: Ab Trappel) |
| **1954** | **Platform built** by Ken Ninness (railway employee), using railway sleepers; steep ramp; Up side, adjacent to level crossing at 1768 Dungog Rd |
| Unknown | Platform closed |
---
*No entries found in NSW Government Railways Weekly Notices, 1910–1989.*
*This platform was an informal structure that does not appear in any formal railway administrative record. Community oral history (Allan Eyb, Brenda Hogg) provides the only documentation.*