Opened on February 24, 1964, this is just a cute little station next after Glenbrook going west up…read morethe mountain. Stairs only. It's on a sharp curve in the train line to help get up the steep Lapstone Hill. A platform on each side of the two tracks. In off-peak there is one train per hour each way on the Blue Mountains line. "Come on, come on, we're gonna miss the train." More often in peak travelling times. If you miss your train, you can kill some time by taking the short walk from Lapstone train station going east down to the Lapstone Lookout to see the Nepean River. I think it is 1.5 km out and back. You have an hour till the train, yah? Lapstone is 64 km west of Sydney. Population: 1,000. It's name Lapstone is derived from the smooth water-worn stones in the area. Glenbrook creek is here and water comes down the steep hill carrying river pebbles. These stones look like those used by cobblers in the olden days who would hold the stones between their legs to work the leather when making shoes. A stone in the lap is a lap stone, yah?

Emu Plains is a suburb located 58 km west of the Sydney central business district, just after…read morePenrith. Emu Plains railway station is on the Western and Blue Mountains train line. It is the terminus of the main branch of the Western line, though many trains terminate at the previous station of Penrith. After here you start going up the mountain. The railway station has a quaint two storey building built in 1883 of brick and sandstone, with Tudor chimneys. Two storeys is very unusual for railway stations. The building has Local Government Heritage Listing. I like any building built of sandstone - isn't it THE BEST! Besides Sydney, I can't recall anywhere else where sandstone buildings are prevalent (But don't make me think. It's bad for my brain). People come out here to visit the Penrith Regional Gallery & The Lewers Bequest, which is an art gallery including works by the artists Gerald and Margo Lewers. (86 River Road, Emu Plains). The site was donated to the city and opened in 1981 as a gallery, gardens and cafe. While I was 'growing up', a process still in progress, one of my friends said he fell asleep on the train one night and ended up in Emu Plains, where the train terminated. He had to wait till morning to get a train out of there. I never had that pleasure myself, but I think the lesson is: don't fall asleep on the train. My friend didn't mention seeing any emus.

Glenbrook is a residential mountain community 67 km west of Sydney in the Lower Blue Mountains…read more This picturesque little town of 5,000 people is the biggest community between Penrith and Springwood, further up the mountain. There is a Royal Australia Air Force Base in Glenbrook. Glenbrook station is on the Blue Mountains train line and was opened in 1913. The town was originally named Watertank and was a stop on the "little" zig-zag railway line. The purpose of the stop was so the steam trains could refill their engines with water from the Glenbrook Lagoon. Glenbrook Creek had been dammed up to make a lagoon to store water for the trains, and a pipe-line was constructed to transport water to a tank built alongside the rail line. When the township grew, the residents obviously realized you can't have a town called 'Watertank' so in 1879 they adopted the name Glenbrook after the Glenbrook Creek. The name Glenbrook was proposed by Sir John Jamieson who believed that the creek was a brook coming from Regents Glen. When we lived in the mountains we used to get the train to Glenbrook to go to the cute movie theatre here. Indy movies sometimes, or just regular.

I have to admit that this station is awesome, though for the size of the station compared to the…read moresize of the town, it does feel somewhat out of proportion. However, as a railway station, it is actually pretty awesome, despite the fact that it really isn't the most accessible one. Oh, apparently there used to even be a bar here, if the signs are anything to go by, but I suspect that it has long since been closed and is now basically a heritage-listed regional station. However, it is still really worth to trip up here just to check it out.