South Facing Goods Shed

The goods shed at Bombala Railway Station was built in 1921 as part of the original station complex, the same year the terminus opened at the end of the Goulburn-Bombala branch line. Constructed from corrugated iron over a timber frame, it sits within a yard precinct approximately 900 metres in length that Heritage NSW describes as essentially intact compared to its original 1920s layout. Bombala Railway Station opened for passenger services on 21 November 1921, the culmination of a branch line that had taken 37 years to push south from Joppa Junction to the Monaro tablelands. The station was built to a Type 11 pre-cast concrete standard design, one of approximately 140 such buildings constructed across regional NSW between 1919 and 1932. The goods shed, simpler in material, was part of the same construction phase. It handled the freight economy of the southern Monaro: wool, beef cattle, superphosphate, tractors, and harvesters moving in and out of a region whose pastoral communities depended on the line for supply. The station closed on 26 March 1986. The last train visit was made by 3 CPH railmotors. The branch line itself was officially closed in May 1989, after the Numeralla River bridge at Chakola was declared unsafe. By 2016, when this photograph was made, the corrugated iron siding climbed to a gabled peak with weathered red trim fading along the fascia. A power line dropped from the upper right to meet the roofline. Metal stairs rose on the left to a raised platform, and two windows with dark panes and worn timber frames faced outward. Local lavender growers have used the shed for distilling lavender oil, and it also holds older museum pieces. The shed is listed as part of NSW State Heritage Register item #01091, gazetted 2 April 1999, which assessed the station group as one of the most intact and well-preserved country sites from the late railway expansion period in the state. The shed is now part of the heritage museum precinct managed by the Friends of Bombala Railway.