Bombala Station

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 14mm · f/8.0 · 1/500 · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Looking south along the platform toward the end of the line. The 88-metre concrete-faced platform runs to the right of frame. The yard opens out beyond, flat tableland visible in the distance. Infrastructure remnants occupy the yard space. The sky is open and wide above the Monaro landscape.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

Limited edition
A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

$100.00 AUD

Colour

Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 5 to 10 business days (unframed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

See certificate sample →

Shipping Free shipping over $250. Ships worldwide, rates calculated at checkout.

Returns Damaged in transit? We replace it. Full policy →

Ships within 10 business days · signed & numbered

In situ

Bombala Station at Bombala Station, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Bombala Station at Bombala Station, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Bombala Station at Bombala Station, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Bombala Station
Series: Bombala Station
Catalogue: BST-004
Process: Giclée
Captured: 26 December 2016
Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/500 s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 14 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Bombala, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Bombala, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The view south along Bombala Railway Station is a view to a line that was supposed to keep going. The surveyors had drawn it through to Orbost in Victoria. The trains never made it past Bombala. What remains is a terminus by default: an 88-metre concrete-faced platform, a pre-cast concrete station building, a signal box with a skillion roof, a 60-foot turntable pit locked shut, and a gantry crane standing opposite the platform where the yard opens out into the flat Monaro tableland. The Goulburn-Bombala branch line took 37 years to reach this point. Work began south from Joppa Junction in 1884, pushing through Bungendore, Queanbeyan, Michelago, and Cooma before reaching Nimmitabel in 1912. Construction of the final 38-mile section to Bombala was approved in 1915, suspended during the First World War for lack of funds, and completed in 1921. The Nimmitabel-Bombala section opened for passenger services on 21 November 1921, with daily trains departing Cooma at 7:45 am and arriving at Bombala at noon. Total distance from Sydney: 332 miles and 16 chains. The station building is a Type 11 pre-cast concrete structure, one of approximately 140 built across regional NSW between 1919 and 1932 using a standardised NSWGR drop-panel system. Heritage NSW describes it as one of the best pre-cast concrete structures to survive in the state. The yard it anchors is considered essentially intact compared to its original 1920s layout, which makes Bombala unusual: most of its demolished counterparts are gone. The station served the pastoral communities of the southern Monaro tablelands for 65 years, moving wool and cattle out and superphosphate and machinery in. Diesel railmotors replaced steam through the 1950s and 1960s. The last official passenger train ran in August 1974. Goods services continued until 26 March 1986, when 3 CPH railmotors made the final visit. The branch line was officially closed in May 1989 after a bridge at Chakola was declared unsafe. This photograph was made in 2016, looking south to the point where the tracks stop. The Friends of Bombala Railway maintain the precinct. The goods shed houses a small museum. The platform is still there, the full 88 metres of it, pointing toward a Victorian border the line never crossed.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The Nimmitabel-Bombala section of the Goulburn-Bombala branch line opened on 21 November 1921, completing a railway push south from Joppa Junction that had taken 37 years. Bombala Railway Station was built as a terminus, but the surveyors had planned further: the line was intended to continue to Orbost in Victoria. It never left Bombala. The station closed to all traffic on 26 March 1986. The platform, the pre-cast concrete station building, and much of the yard infrastructure survive largely intact, now managed by the Friends of Bombala Railway as a heritage precinct.

Brett Patman

The series

Bombala Station

2016 · 23 photographs

Bombala railway station is the terminus of the Goulburn-Bombala branch line, sitting at the southern end of the Monaro in NSW, near the Victorian border. The Nimmitabel to Bombala section opened on 21 November 1921, and every building in the yard dates from that year: the pre-cast concrete station building, signal box, goods shed, footbridge, turntable, gantry crane, cattle yard, and barracks. The last passenger service ran in August 1974. The last goods train rolled out on 26 March 1986. Listed on the NSW State Heritage Register (item 5011934, 2 April 1999), the station is described as one of the most intact country terminus sites from the 1920s railway expansion, with the station building rated as one of the best surviving pre-cast concrete structures in NSW. The Friends of Bombala Railway maintain the precinct as a heritage museum.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.