Type : Station
Line : Murwillumbah Branch
Distance from Sydney : 875.690km
Opened : Possibly between 1895 and 01/02/1896 (Per K Spicer), shown as a siding on 23/6/1900, by 1905 it was being referenced as a station in the Working Timetable.
Closed : 1973
Status : Closed
Name meaning : No primary reference
Notes: This was originally a cream platform. A Down dead-end siding existed from 1913 until it was abolished in 1935. It is known that the platform swapped sides when it was moved 96 metres on the Up side. The station was an early casualty on the line, in 1949 there was one pupil a day being picked up to transport to Mullumbimby by rail - it's noted that a bus service for the 39 pupils in the Talofa to Myocum section of the line (excluding Byron) would henceforth be carried by bus as it was faster and meant students would arrive both at school and home in a more timely manner.
St Helena (1986) (Bob Richardson)
Location of St Helena (Six Maps)
St Helena 1970, excursion train (Bill Aitken)
Article from 1927 requesting improvements at the location.
50m north of bridge June 2017, rough location of the on-time platform (Geoff Bensley).
NSW 4459+4451 N4 GCM St Helena 31-08-1976_2 (Bob Richo)
44212 leads the Gold Coast Motorail through St Helena (undated) (Winney Collection)
44211 is beginning the descent into Byron Bay in 1986. (Chris Sim)
Trailing view - cresting the summit of St. Helena Bank, with St. Helena platform visible in distance. A close examination of the image will show some mountain goats descending the cutting after taking their photos! Saturday 26.04.1969. Photo by Peter Neve.
St Helena, 1989 (uncredited)
## 1900
> St Helena shown as a **siding** on **23 June 1900**.
*(No Weekly Notice entry found — date per external records. The siding predates the line's extension to the Tweed, which opened in December 1894, suggesting it was an early addition serving cream traffic.)*
---
## 1905
> By **1905**, St Helena is referenced as a **station** in the Working Timetable.
*(No specific Weekly Notice entry found for the reclassification from siding to station.)*
---
## 1925
### Working Time Allowances — Mixed Trains
> No. 38 (Up goods/mixed) is allowed **5 minutes Myocum, 5 minutes Tyagarah, 5 minutes Quarries Siding, 10 minutes St. Helena** and 5 minutes Binna Burra for work.
> No. 16 is allowed **2 minutes St. Helena**, 2 minutes Talofa, 18 minutes Binna Burra, 7 minutes Nashua and 15 minutes Eltham for work.
*(Source: 1925 Weekly Notices — repeated in multiple issues throughout the year)*
### Train Running Notices — Down No. 7
> No. 7 (ex Lismore 9.35 a.m.): Bangalow arr. 8.17 a.m., cross No. 6, dep. 8.19 a.m., **St. Helena arr. 8.27 a.m. dep. 8.31 a.m.**, Byron Bay arr. 8.44 a.m. dep. 9.00 a.m., thence as tabled in Working Book.
*(Source: 1925 Weekly Notices — running adjustments, repeated in multiple issues)*
### Timetable Extract — Down and Up Mixed
> Talofa ... St. Helena ... Arr. [Byron Bay] — Down timetable
> [Up timetable] — Byron Bay ... St. Helena ... Dep. 3.37 p.m. ... [Bangalow direction]
*(Source: 1925 Working Timetable entries)*
---
## 1928
### District Superintendent Responsibility — St Helena to North Lismore
> Routing instructions showing: **St. Helena to North Lismore** — Lismore [District Superintendent area].
*(Source: 1928 Weekly Notices — routing/addressing schedule)*
> **Note:** This entry (rendered by OCR as "Wt. Helena to Sorth Limiore") confirms St Helena's administrative placement under the Lismore District Superintendent's area, consistent with its position on the line between Byron Bay and Lismore.
---
## 1932
### Listed in Working Timetable Station Sequence
> St Helena (P) listed in sequence: Bangalow, Talofa (P), **St Helena (P)**, Byron Bay, Quarry (P), Tyagarah (P), Myocum (P), Mullumbimby, Billinudgel (P), Yelgun (P), Crabbes Creek (P), Mooball (P).
*(Source: 1932 Working Timetable listing)*
---
## 1946
### Electoral/Police Patrol Boundary
> **Byron Bay Police Patrol within the Shire of Byron** — St. Helena to Tyagarah, inclusive.
*(Source: 1946 Weekly Notices — Public Holiday and Electoral schedules)*
> **Note:** This confirms St Helena as the western boundary of the Byron Bay Police Patrol within the Shire of Byron, consistent with its geographic position just west of Byron Bay on the line.
---
## 1949
### School Pupils — Bus Substitution
> *(Per external records)* — In 1949, only **one pupil per day** was being picked up at St Helena for transport to Mullumbimby by rail. A bus service was subsequently introduced to serve the **39 pupils** in the Talofa–Myocum section of the line (excluding Byron Bay stations), on the grounds that bus transport was faster and allowed pupils to arrive at school and return home more promptly.
*(No specific Weekly Notice entry found for this — documented in external records. The decision effectively marked St Helena as an early casualty of the line's passenger decline.)*
---
## 1971
### Speed Board Listing — St Helena–Byron Bay Section
> **St Helena–Byron Bay**: 546m 53c — speed board listed.
*(Source: 1971 Working Timetable — speed boards)*
---
## 1973
### Local Appendix Updated — St Helena Listed Separately
> Local Appendix Northern Division — **Page 72: St Helena** (listed as a separate entry, alongside Talofa and Stokers on page 73).
*(W.N. 40–1973)*
### Speed Board Location — Talofa–St Helena and St Helena–Byron Bay
> Talofa–St Helena: **543m 53c** and **543m 56c**
> St Helena–Byron Bay: **546m 53c** and **546m 63c**, **547m 22c**, **547m 27c**, **548m 21c**
*(Source: 1973 Working Timetable — speed boards)*
---
## 1974 — Closure
> St Helena closed **30 June 1974**, along with the general cessation of passenger services on the Casino–Murwillumbah line.
*(No specific Weekly Notice closure entry found for St Helena individually — closure was part of the general line passenger closure.)*
---
## 1975 — Deleted from All Publications
### All References Removed — W.N. 26–1975
> **Accommodation Provided** — Delete all reference to Woodlawn College, Bexhill, Eltham, Booyong, Talofa, **St Helena**, Sleeper Platform and Myocum.
*(W.N. 26–1975)*
> **Grades at Stations, Sidings, Platforms and Signal-Boxes** — Delete all references to Naughton's Gap, Bentley, Fernside, Woodlawn College, Bexhill, Eltham, Booyong, Talofa and **St Helena**.
*(W.N. 26–1975)*
> **Steep Grades Where Trains Must Stop to Apply and Release Brakes — Casino–Murwillumbah Branch:**
> Down Journey — Delete **St Helena**, insert Bangalow.
> Up Journey — Delete Naughton's Gap–North Casino, insert Bungabee–Old Casino.
*(W.N. 26–1975)*
> **Note on steep grades entry:** The deletion of St Helena from the steep grades table and its replacement with Bangalow on the Down journey is operationally significant — it suggests that St Helena had been used as a brake application/release point for Down trains descending toward Byron Bay, and that after its deletion, Bangalow (further west) became the reference point for this section.
---
## Summary of Key Events
| Date | Event |
|------|-------|
| 23 June 1900 | Shown as a siding |
| By 1905 | Referenced as a station in the Working Timetable |
| 1923 | Platform damaged by fire (per Talofa file — likely same fire event in the locality) |
| 1925 | Appears in mixed train working allowances — 2–10 minutes allowed depending on train |
| 1927 | Dead-end siding referenced at the platform |
| Unknown | Platform moved 96 metres; swapped to Up side |
| 1932 | Listed as platform (P) in working timetable sequence |
| 1946 | Defines western boundary of Byron Bay Police Patrol, Shire of Byron |
| 1949 | Bus service introduced for school pupils; St Helena effectively an early casualty of passenger decline |
| 1971–1973 | Appears in speed board tables: Talofa–St Helena at 543m 53c |
| 30 June 1974 | **Closed** — general passenger closure of Casino–Murwillumbah line |
| W.N. 26–1975 | Deleted from all publications |
---
*Extracted from NSW Government Railways Weekly Notices, 1889–1989.*