Helensburgh NSW 2508
Stanwell Park Overbridge
Last updated 7 July 2026
The Stanwell Park overbridge is where the old Coast (Illawarra) Road crossed the original single-track railway. Before 1925, it formed part of the main roadway through Stanwell Park — used by horse and cart, on foot, and later by motor car.
Lawrence Hargrave Drive and the original railway
Lawrence Hargrave Drive as we know it today was once the main railway line from Sydney through Stanwell Park. The thoroughfare where Chellow Dene Avenue meets Lawrence Hargrave Drive, and nearly all the way to Coalcliff, followed the original railway from October 1888 until 1920. Chellow Dene Avenue traces the alignment back to the southern portal of the Otford Tunnel.
Where did the road go before 1925?
If today’s road was the original railway line, where did the horses, carts, and cars go?
Down Bald Hill. At the hairpin, the road passed through and joined today’s Old Coast Road. It then crossed a level crossing over the railway (near the old petrol-station intersection), continued down the Lower Coast Road, and across the Stanwell Creek causeway. The road then meandered up the Lower Coast Road until it crossed the overbridge — see the aerial image below. After the bridge, traffic ran parallel with the railway (the current road) until crossing back to the east side via a level crossing near Coalcliff.
Stanwell Park’s first railway station
Stanwell Park’s first railway station stood on the corner of Lawrence Hargrave Drive and Old Coast Road — approximately where the old petrol station was. Station Street takes its name from that original terminus.
In the background of the photograph below, you can just make out the footbridge built in 1911 when the second (down) platform was added.
Culverts and the Blue Hole
Two large brick culverts carried the rail line over Hargrave Creek and Stanwell Creek. The Stanwell Creek culvert is commonly called the “Blue Hole” — a deep pool on the east side that was a favourite summer swimming spot. Many locals, including me as a youngster, swam there and even walked through the culvert.
From railway to road (1920–1925)
The overbridge carried road traffic over the railway until the Stanwell Park railway deviation (duplication) opened in 1920. Deviation works finished nearly five and a half years after the Helensburgh–Waterfall section, partly delayed by the 1914–1918 war.
For five years (1920–1925), after the new double track opened around the Stanwell Park amphitheatre, the old single line lay dormant. In 1925 the Main Roads Board (later RTA/RMS, now Transport for NSW) converted the former railway into Lawrence Hargrave Drive as we use it today.
Where the overbridge stood
Below is the junction where today’s Lower Coast Road meets Lawrence Hargrave Drive — the overbridge site.
What remains today
When the overbridge was built or removed is not recorded here, but remnants survive in the cutting: brick mounting foundations, rusty bolts, and ageing railway sleepers. Hidden in the undergrowth above the foundations is more brickwork where the bridge met the land. It is safe to say the remains are at least 100 years old.
Historic photos courtesy of State Records NSW — Photographic Collection. No known copyright restrictions (The Commons).