A SMALL crowd turned out last week for what should have been a big celebration for the 150 years of Rydal Train Station.
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Packed onto the platform, Rydal residents waited patiently for the 8.25am Bathurst Bullet to make its grand entrance.
Residents, Sydney Trains NSW officials and the Rydal Village Association all turned out for the special occasion and despite COVID-19 preventing a big celebration, the guests enjoyed their morning with cakes, tea and some party top hats.
Local resident Lorraine Stack's family has been in the area for more than 177 years and was around when the first train came through Rydal, which is between Bathurst and Lithgow, all those years ago.
"The train used to have many stops at a lot of little stations and Rydal had a very active group of train-goers; we were probably the busybody town really," she said.
There used to be stock trains, diesel trains that brought the mail, passenger trains and more, according to Ms Stack.
"One time the engine driver overshot the station and the train guard had to lift us off the platform and on to the train," she said.
Ms Stack said the train station played an important part in Rydal's history.
"It was really felt when they stopped the amount of trains coming through, because it cut us off from everyone. You could still catch the school bus, but a big difference was felt," she said.
Some changes that were made included only having one train track and not two.
"There was two tracks and you would hop on on one side and off on the other and then just walk across the train tracks, but you wouldn't be able to do that these days," she said.
"You could also come and just wave your hat for the driver to stop and they'd stop."
Over eight generations of the family have been in Rydal and some even worked to keep the trains going.
"They used to cut coal for the steam trains and that was their main source of income," she said.
Rydal station building is the former stationmaster's residence and little has changed inside since it was built in 1869.
Since the Rydal Village Association has taken over the lease of the building, the group has turned it into an accommodation venue.
