missed lovers/found lovers & lost lovers

#. A steam engine pulls into Hawkesbury River Station. The Hawkesbury River Hotel and the Brooklyn Hotel are in the background.

Photo: Hornsby Shire Library Date taken Early 1900's

Hawkesbury River railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Northern and Central Coast–Newcastle lines in Brooklyn in the Hornsby Shire local government area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The station serves the town of Brooklyn and is located on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River. It was designed and build by the Department of Railways New South Wales. It is also known as Hawkesbury River Railway Station group and Brooklyn Station. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999

History:

The Main Northern line between Sydney and Newcastle was constructed in two distinct stages and in the earliest years, was worked as two separate railway systems. The line between Sydney (actually the junction at Strathfield) and the Hawkesbury River was opened on 7 April 1887, with the terminus being on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River. The line between Newcastle and the northern bank of the Hawkesbury River (near present-day Wondabyne) was opened in January 1888.

The line was completed through between Sydney and Newcastle with the opening of the Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge in 1889. The Hawkesbury River railway station is presently located on the Northern line between Cowan railway station and Wondabyne railway stationThe single-line section between Hornsby and the Hawkesbury River was opened for traffic on 7 April 1887. Separate side platforms were provided at the-then terminus, one for each of the future Up and Down lines in preparation for the forthcoming planned duplication of the Northern line. Completion of the bridge over the Hawkesbury River was still two years away and the station facilities provided at Hawkesbury River remained in use to serve as the railway terminus until the opening of the bridge. The construction name of Hawkesbury River was "Flat Rock". The station was opened as "Hawkesbury River", renamed "Brooklyn" (1888), "Hawkesbury River" (1889), "Hawkesbury" (1890), finally reverting to Hawkesbury River in October 1906 Reflecting the confusion in the timetables, the station was known locally as Peats Ferry, Flat Rock, and Brooklyn in the early years, depending on whom one spoke toWhilst the main line terminated at Hawkesbury River, an arrangement of trackwork, sidings and platforms was provided on the causeway formed by reclaimed land on the eastern side of Long Island where the new Long Island tunnel had been constructed. The station was known as "River Wharf" and the tracks terminated at a wharf at the edge of the waterway. The purpose of the arrangement was to allow transhipment between the railways and river ferries, thus allowing passengers to cross the waterway, to another wharf on the northern side of the river, while the Hawkesbury River Bridge was under construction Hawkesbury River became a popular destination for day trippers and fishermen, outstripping the capacity of the original timber platform building. This was replaced in 1903 with the current brick building, which is of the type that had recently been adopted as the standard construction for island platforms.