Waverton

In March 1926, electrification of the line from Milson's Point to Hornsby was announced, works of which were due to commence at the turn of 1927. In addition to this, the line was to be quadrupled between Bay Road and Chatswood; work widening the track bed had already started. It was stated that the additional tracks would not be laid immediately, but the infrastructure for electrification (overhead wires rated at 1,500-volts) would be built to accommodate four tracks in the future. Quadrupling to Chatswood was to be timed with the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which at that stage appeared to be heading for completion at the end of 1930. In January 1927, it was announced that the framework to carry the overhead wires had been erected along the entire Milson's Point to Hornbsy stretch of line, and that section between the latter and Rosevillle was already complete. Electric services on the line were scheduled to start on 1st May 1927, although the first such trains did not commence until 15th August of that year.

On Monday 20th May 1929, the station's name was changed from "Bay Road" to "Waverton". This was without any prior warning, thus coming as a great surprise to both passengers and the press:

Without ostentation, the name of Bay Road railway station was yesterday changed to Waverton. People who travelled along the North Shore line from Milson's Point last evening noticed, to their astonishment that the old name of the Bay Road station had disappeared and had given place to Waverton. Many passengers rubbed their eyes in wonderment and for the moment were uncertain whether they were on the right train.

It is understood that the decision to change the name resulted from a recommendation by the Bay Road Progress Association, but the change was made without any ceremony and without any prior advice by the Railway Department. Several senior officers of the department stated last evening that they had no knowledge of the change. Officers of the North Sydney Council also declared that no official intimation had been made to the council of the department's decision.

The station has borne the name of Bay Road since the section of the line in which it is included was opened for traffic on May 1, 1893. On that date the section from St Leonards to Milson's Point was opened, the line from Hornsby to St Leonards having been opened on January 1, 1890.

The name of Waverton was derived from that of the Waverton estate, one of the oldest properties in the neighbourhood of the station. There is a Waverton-avenue and a Waverton-lane in North Sydney municipality.

Ref: The Sydney Morning Herald: Tuesday 21 May 1929

On 19th March 1932, Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened, to much celebration and fanfare. Upon the the bridge were laid four railway tracks, split into pairs flanking a 57-foot-wide road. Those tracks on the western side carried trains of the North Shore Line from Milson's Point to a new underground stop in the city's Central Business District at Wynyard and, ultimately, onto Central station. Those tracks on the eastern side carried trams, these of which also led from Milson's Point to Wynyard.

Much change had been enacted on the North Shore as part of the Harbour Bridge scheme. South of Waverton station, the original Milson's Point Extension Railway closed to passenger traffic and the terminus on the water's edge at Lavender Bay eventually became the site of electrified rolling stock sidings. From this point on the branch line, which became reduced to single track, was accessed indirectly by performing a reversing manoeuvre into a southward-facing siding situated behind the north-bound platform at Waverton. A new station going by the name of "Milsons Point" opened on the Harbour Bridge's northern approaches and between the former and Waverton, an additional four-platform affair called "North Sydney" was commissioned. Crucially, it was now possible to go from Central station to Hornsby direct, via the North Shore Line.

By the 1960s, Waverton had lost most of its earliest features. The tongue-and-groove timber buildings on either platform had since been flattened. A short flat-roofed shelter was in evidence on the Hornsby-bound platform, and a replacement canopy had been added to the south-bound platform, 155-feet from the footbridge. This canopy extended for 70-feet and comprised four pitched roof sections, although these lacked any form of valance.

In 1992, the NSW Government announced a $1,800,000 scheme to overhaul Waverton station. This aimed to return the site to its 1893 glory in connection with the 100th Anniversary celebrations of the North Shore Line's opening. Completed in 1993, the works included rebuilding the "high-level" booking office to emulate the form the structure took in 1893. The timber buildings which once occupied the platforms were not recreated, but new canopies with ornate valances were installed; the aforementioned four-pitched roof canopy, a later addition to the southbound platform, was retained, but modified with an attractive valance. Final alterations to the site were completed in late 1994, which involved installing lifts either side of the new staircases from the booking office, to provide step-free access to the platforms.

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