SYDNEY INSIGHTS - MORTUARY STATION

MORTUARY STATION, REGENT STREET SYDNEY

This lavish relic was a railway station on Sydney's Rookwood Cemetery railway line and funeral trains departed from the station for Rookwood Cemetery near Lidcombe.  

The ornate station building is still standing on the western side of Sydney Yard at Chippendale, close to Central railway station and Railway Square.

The station opened on 29 June 1869 and later its name was changed to Regent Street station, after the street on which it is located. It has also been referred to by different names, including the Necropolis Receiving Station and the Mortuary Station. 

It was completed on 22 March 1869 and was one end of the service that ran to the Woronora General Cemetery in Sutherland, located south of Sydney, and for trains heading to Sandgate Cemetery in Newcastle.

It was designed by colonial architect James Barnet using elements from the Venetian 13th century Gothic style. Principal sculptors Thomas Ducket and Henry Apperly worked on the elaborate carvings that were a feature of the stations, including angels, cherubs, and gargoyles. 

Barnet also designed the Australian Museum, Customs House and the Garden Palace.

From 14 March 1938, the station found a new use as a platform for horses and dogs and from February 1950, it was used as a platform for parcels. 

It was restored by the State Rail Authority in 1981 and was classified by the National Trust of Australia and the Australian Heritage Commission and made part of Permanent Conservation by the Heritage Council of NSW. The cost of restoring the site was approximately A$600,000 and it was reopened on 21 April 1985 by Neville Wran.

From 1986 to 1989, a pancake restaurant, the 'Magic Mortuary' operated there, using railway carriages to house the diners. 

Subsequently, the station has occasionally been used as a venue to launch special train services and informative displays, and as a hired function centre.

I walk past this building every day and remember always being fascinated by it as a kid when travelling to the city by train. 

I hope to visit it one day, but not as a customer for its original purpose :-)

J G S