Wagga Yard's Loop Sidings

 Wagga's loop sidings - now just a memory

Earlier in February, The Wagga Wagga Rail Heritage museum posted a drone picture showing the recent removal of the yard loop sidings.  The work was in conjuction with Inland Rail.  So, I thought I would check it out for myself, and document the sidings with a series of pictures, and describe how they were used.

Wagga's X200 shunting tractor is pulling some wagons off siding#2 on siding#1 in  this early 1980's picture.  (my picture converted from slide)

What are the sidings?

Officially, these sidings were known as nos.1 to nos.4 sidings - with #1 acting more like a run-around track, than one used just for storage.

Signal box diagram, as displayed in the Wagga Wagga Rail Heritage Museum

Detail - showing the sidings #1 through #4, with a headshunt that ran behind the signalbox to help make up trains for the Tumbarumba branch (etc)

Pictures over the years

Before "Mothers Bridge" had been constructed, #1 siding comes off the 'Through Road', just beyond the signalbox.  (source unknown)

5337 and 5231. Nov 1947. Note the fuel tanker and carriages are on Siding #2.  National Library of Australia image as displayed by the Wagga Wagga Rail Heritage Museum

In 1962, Tony McIllwain, who was studying at the Wagga' Teacher College at the time, found time to take some pictures, which he has gratefully provided to me.   The next 4 images are those of his showing steam trains working the sidings

Unknown 53 class has presumely run around its train, and is about to shunt wagons from the train on #1 siding, onto sidings #2 or #4.  There appears to be a water gin on siding #3. Tony McIIwain picture

Unknown 50 class shunting the sidings. Tony McIIwain picture

5375 with train on #1 siding.  Not sure if this image, and the one below are of the same train. Tony McIIwain picture 

Unknown 53, and 5375 ready to depart towards Junee with the train. Tony McIIwain picture

During a drought, moving stock to "greener pastures" was considered urgent enough to use open wagons, rather than dedicated cattle wagons.  The goods train on Siding #1 is full of 4 wheel wagons, and the tarpaulins are a feature.  Image from internet - and I have it also in a book.  Date unknown, probably in the 1930s. 

Intercapital Daylight hauled by 44232 eases slowly into Wagga around 1980, whilst X200 shunter and oil wagon are on Siding #1.   Steve Kaiser picture.

42102 hauls  a number of VR cement wagons back towards Victoria in this 1981 picture.  Bogie wagons stored on Siding #2.  Note the doubleslip connection to the Through road had been removed..  

Graeme Dodds recorded this image as the X212 removing a louvre van off a northbound train in 1979 

X212 got a better shunting truck in this undated image from the late Phil Sloan.  I have scanned this picture from a small size print, so the quality isn't there. 

The NSW "Green Train" stabled on the "headshunt siding".  This was the location for various exhibition trains to be stabled, to enable the public to access from the roadway that existed beside the rail track.  Phil Sloan picture

A northbound train (headed by a 421, and 42) enters siding #1.  Maybe picking up wagons from the headshunt?   The headshunt includes a number of BSV, and CH coal hoppers.  These wagons will have either come, (or be going to) the Mortimer Street gas plant, and trucking yards respectively.  The X200 shunter will be doing the honours of transfering these wagons from/to the Wagga yard sidings.  Phil Sloan picture, scanned from small sized print

Heading south, looking along Siding #1.  The pointwork for Sidings #2 - #4 is just beyond the signal bridge.  X200 is on the platform road.  "Do not loose shunt" carriage on siding #2.  My picture from early 1980s

3801 on Siding #1.  The signal gantry ion the previous picture has lost all its semaphore signals (1983) and 8174 is in Candy livery, so this image is after 1985.  Poor scan from my slide image.  (note to me - need to redo it)

BSV wagon on the headshunt siding.  My picture.

The down steel train passes through Wagga in 2015, showing the sidings, and a lot of rust on the now disused siding tracks.  Observant viewers will note that one of the sidings is missing - so sometime after 1990, and 2015 the sidings had been relaid. My picture

Operation.

Wagga Wagga once sported a lot of industrial sidings.  There were

- 7 x fuel sidings

- Flour mill

- Gasworks

- Sheep, Cattle, and Pigs Trucking yards

- Tooths beer depot

- Boral siding

- SEC siding

- Hardys Timber

- Goods shed

- loading bank

All of these sidings were shunted (from the 1960s era onwards) with an X200 shunting tractor, which would grab the appropriate wagon(s) from the loop sidings, and deposit it(them) at the respective industrial siding.  The loop sidings were in turn filled, or emptied by passing freight trains, who would drop, or collect wagons assigned to Wagga's industrial sidings.  Effectively, as my American readers might understand,  it was an interchange yard.   

In addition, the sidings were also used for receiving, and making up freight trains for the Tumbarumba branch.

In 1974, traffic to Tumbarumba ceased, and the branch traffic dropped off to just occasional Wheat trains from Ladysmith, and Forest Hill.  This signalled the start of a slow decline in rail movements, as sidings closed, and road transport took over.  Piped natural gas took over the function of the gasworks, the remaining fuel depots  amalgameted to Bomen.  The wheat trains last run was  in 1987, and the branch truncated to Copland Street in Wagga.  The X200 shunting tractor was withdrawn (date?) , and we saw for a short period, mainline engines shunting the Tooths, and Boral sidings on the reminant of the Tumbarumba branch.  But even these closed, leaving no purpose for the loop sidings.  They were spiked out of use, and despite a request from Wagga Rail Heritage to leave them in place for Trike runs, in February 2026, the sidings were lifted.  

February 2026 - Sidings lifted

Wagga Wagga Rail Heritage posted this Drone image of the siding removal.  Note there is no ballast in the sidings area

After seeing the drone image, I made a special trip to Wagga to record what I could.

Contrast this picture with the one I took 45 years earlier (first picture on this blogpost).  The catchpoint on siding #1 is still in place, but I expect this will be removed next weekend, when the main south is being shutdown for 3 days (Feb27-March1).  But I could be wrong.  I note new ballast has been deposited on the dirt that was evident in the drone picture.  No idea why.

Rails neatly stacked for removal?

Probably around 10 years ago, the frog on the through track had been extracted.

The ground frame, installed in 1983 when the signal box was removed for CTC remains (for now).  Of interest is the point blade is still in place

Not much of Siding #1 remains,  (Suspect that even this will disappear in the next 'Main South' maintenance shutdown - Feb 27-March 1st 2026)

It might be 2026, but I see the ghost of two 53s on the now removed #1 siding  64 years ago.  

A last view of the pulled up rail.  Not sure where the bulk of the wooden sleepers went?

Inland rail progress

Road bridge

Preperations for the removal of the Edmonston Street bridge is well underway

A few weeks after my post on the Edmonston Street bridge, part of the embankment suffered a partial collapse, closing one lane.  Wagga City council then appealed to Inland Rail, asking for clarification on the bridge replacement.  The council didn't want to spend money fixing a problem if the bridge was going to be replaced quickly.  Well, it wasn't, and it has taken years.  Then, when a closure date was announced, the Council objected that they didn't have a traffic study to detour the traffic to the other rail crossings in the town.  Go figure....

I posted my notes on the bridge in 2022.

https://buildingwagga.blogspot.com/2022/09/edmondson-street-bridge.html

Embankment collapse in 2022

from the motorist's perspective

Inland rail design 

Note the pedestrian walkway - again a gentler slope to meet modern regulations

Excavation of the northbound roadway ramp.

The span is to be removed on the weekend 27Feb-1st March 2026.  Note the old gatekeeper cottage is still in place, although missing one of its roofing sheets.   The recently rebuilt Wagga Wagga Base hospital is in the distance

Mothers Bridge Footbridge replacement

My earlier notes.

https://buildingwagga.blogspot.com/2025/11/mothers-bridge.html

Work continues with the footings

Summary

When I started this blog, I never expected that I would be documenting history that is disappearing, and changing.   Hopefully you have not found this dull.   By studying the prototype, I get a better appreciation of the railway, and in this case, the operation around the sidings.  It will elevate the humble shunter as being the most important, and potential caveated operator position for the future layout op sessions.

Thank you to all people who have made images available to me to illustrate this blog post.  If I have inadvertently mis-used your picture, please contact me, and I will amend. 

 Until next time, build a model or two.