It was the end of the line for Harden-Murrumburrah and its association with the railway, when the majority of railway employees finished their last day of work on Friday, June 27.
The occasion marked the end of an era for Harden-Murrumburrah which was once considered one of the great railway towns of NSW. Back in its heyday, around 1926, Harden-Murrumburrah employed 272 men which, included fitters and turners, fettlers, station and signal staff. In those days they dispatched around 40 trains a day from Harden station. With the advent of the diesel trains, the numbers of employees steadily decreased to around 100 employees in 1960.
The privatisation of the railway system and new concrete sleepers meant that not as many track workers were needed to maintain the lines in the area and much of the work has moved to larger centres like Cootamundra.
With privatisation came redundancies and over the last few years the numbers have dwindled even further and now only two local workers are left employed by the railway in Harden.
Faced with the choice to sign contracts to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), with no guarantee of any long-term job security, or accept a redundancy package, many decided to take the redundancy packages being offered.
Railway employees past and present attended a final get together at the Harden District Bowling club recently to mark the occasion and share stories of their days working the rails. The weather stayed fine enough for them to enjoy a game of bowls, which was followed by lunch and presentation of certificates for 30 years of service for three employees Graham Hill, Trevor Menz and Trevor Malone. Another of the workers, Robert Dyball from Binalong was presented with a special sculpture made from railway iron by one of his railway mates in recognition for 40 years of service.
Robert started on the Railway in 1968, working as a labourer for 11 months at Demondrille before moving to Chullora, Sydney to work in earthmoving before later returning home to Binalong.
Robert had been through at least three rounds of redundancies over the years, never thought he would see the day when it would all come to an end.
“I’m going to miss the work, but most importantly I am going to miss all my workmates” he said. And after 40 years of 5am starts it’s taking a little while to settle into a routine.