Yanderra railway station was a railway station on the Main Southern railway line, serving the village of Yanderra in the Southern Highlands, New South Wales. The station provided passenger services between 1924 and 1975, and was demolished after closure. Yanderra is known for the murder of three railway workers that occurred during an attempted railway robbery in 1941.
History Yanderra station opened on 2 August 1924, on the to deviation, and was built as an infill station, with both adjacent stations opening with the deviation in 1919. The station consisted of two small concrete side platforms with basic facilities on both sides.Yanderra railway station. NSWrail.net, accessed 25 August 2024
The station closed to passenger services on 24 November 1975, and the platforms were subsequently demolished. No part of the station remains extant.
Incidents On 8 July 1930, a man was killed and his body mutilated on the tracks close to Yanderra station. Authorities determined his cause of death to be from falling out of a train.Unknown Man's Body Under Railway Bridge Daily Standard (Brisbane, QLD: 1912-1936). Trove, National Library of Australia. 9 July 1930. p.2, accessed 25 August 2024
On 9 March 1930, a car travelling over a nearby railway bridge crashed through the brick and onto the track, resulting in a woman inside the vehicle breaking her back.Over Railway Bridge! The North Western Courier (Narrabri, NSW:1913-1955). Trove, National Library of Australia. 10 March 1930. p.1, accessed 26 August 2024
On the night of 30 August 1932, 32 year-old Edna Burgess was struck and killed by the Melbourne Express on the south side of the station. The force of the accident mutilated the upper half of her body, whilst severing both her arms and decapitating her. A handbag with a blank cheque form was found near her, allowing for her identification by authorities.Woman Killed at Yanderra The Scrutineer and Berrima District Press (NSW: 1892-1948). Trove, National Library of Australia. 3 September 1932. p.2, accessed 25 August 2024HEAD AND ARMS SEVERED The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW: 1931-1954). Trove, National Library of Australia. 31 August 1932. p.8, accessed 26 August 2024
On 24 February 1947, a truck crashed into the parapet of a nearby railway bridge, dislodging three tonnes of bricks onto the tracks and injuring the two young men inside.BRICKS CRASH ON RAILWAY TRACKS Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW: 1941-1955). Trove, National Library of Australia. 25 February 1947. p.2, accessed 25 August 2024
Yanderra payroll robbery
On the night of 7 December 1941, a New South Wales FP5 railway paybus was deliberately blown up in an attempted robbery by a homemade dynamite bomb attached to a wire acting as a detonator, and laid on the tracks near the station. The force of the explosion completely destroyed portions of the paybus, and twisted the perway. Two of the three workers inside were killed instantly, with the third dying in hospital after being rescued from underneath the wreckage.SENSATIONAL BOMB OUTRAGE Wellington Times (NSW: 1899-1954). Trove, National Library of Australia. 11 December 1941. p.16, accessed 25 August 2024SHOCKING OUTRAGE BY TRAIN ROBBERS The Picton Post (NSW: 1907-1954). Trove, National Library of Australia. 10 December 1941. p.2, accessed 25 August 2024 The incident resulted in a nationwide manhunt for the perpetrators.Nation-Wide Hunt for Train Bandits Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW: 1941-1955). Trove, National Library of Australia. 12 December 1941. p.11, accessed 25 August 2024 Although the murders were never solved, by the mid-1950s it became generally accepted that the robbery had been orchestrated by Lionel Charles Thomas, who had become notorious for the 1950 murder of widow Phyllis Page. Serving in the Australian Army during World War II, Thomas had been dishonourably discharged for theft, and by the 1950s, had been tried for murder four times including that of an assistant stationmaster at Carnegie railway station in Melbourne in 1945. He had also been charged for blinding two men in separate pepper attacks. He hanged himself in his prison cell in 1951.VICIOUS GUNMAN AND SWINDLER HELD FASCINATION FOR WOMEN Daily Mirror (Sydney, NSW: 1941-1955). Trove, National Library of Australia. 22 July 1954. p.23, accessed 26 August 2024Thomas was tried 4 times for murder The Sun (Sydney, NSW: 1910-1954). Trove, National Library of Australia. 6 April 1951. p.10, accessed 26 August 2024
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