Manning River Siding

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1945 diagrams of both sidings. SIX maps (maps.six.nsw.gov.au) has a better aerial view than G Earth with the Manning Siding tracks visible. There's a fenced off body of water to the north east of the Manning Siding Junction that is in the right place to have been Kerle's Limstone Quarry.

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The disadvantage of the location of the Taree Railway Station (opened February 1913) was its distance from the river which was still an important transportation network. In 1911 land was resumed for a siding from Taree station to the waterfront at Taree but this was not constructed.




A second siding was surveyed to the Manning River at Chatham (now a suburb of Taree). Although precise details of the rationale for the route have not been located, the undeveloped nature of the land at Chatham (less compensation to be paid) and access to deepwater moorings in the Manning River made the study area ideal to be developed as a connection between the North Coast line and the Manning River. The land was resumed by the Government from 1913 to 1916.




The original siding was opened on the 15th July 1918 and ran to the Upper Manning Co-operative Dairy Company's Dairy Factory. It is not clear what happened after the factory closed. However the siding was no doubt a factor in the decision of Peter's limited to construct their Ice Cream and Dairy Factory beside the line off Railway Parade at Chatham. Peters also use a wharf at North Street presumably to collect milk for their factory. It is not known how the milk was moved to the factory but it could have been by the old tramway as the route of the tramway was roughly along Railway Parade.




On the 18th October 1940 the Government sold the land along Pitt Street between North Street and Queen Street to the Manning River Co-operative Dairy Society Ltd for ₤1268 (Old System Bk 1880 f742). With the establishment of the Dairy factory the siding was reconditioned and from the associated plan (dated 1941) it seems that the track had been lifted and was now to be re-laid. The original siding was moved to the north to front the boundary along Pitt Street.




It is not clear to what extent the siding served the other industries that leased land from the Manning River Co-operative Dairy Society Ltd. There are unloading facilities for the produce sheds. There seems to be no remaining evidence of discharge facilities for the two fuel dumps or for the Readymix plant.




The siding was officially put out of use on the 10/11th February 2007 but most of the track remains in place