If you were standing in front of Buss' Inn / Woodford Academy in 1869, you may well have been waiting for the afternoon train from Mount Victoria en route to Sydney.

This was due in at Buss’ some time around 3pm. With any luck the train would have stopped for you at the platform, although in wet conditions the steep gradient of the line meant it could struggle to pull up in time.

Following the station name being changed to Woodford in 1871, its location was moved several times over the next three decades. By the 1880s it was located opposite the future site of the Woodford post office. In 1902 it was moved several hundred metres east to its present location.

a mountains' retreat

The ladies seen here in 1881 would have been guests returning to Sydney after their stay here at the Woodford Guesthouse. Throughout the latter part of the 1800s, Woodford was a favourite destination for people seeking a mountains’ break.

Buss' Platform

The coming of the railway to the central Blue Mountains in 1867 heralded times of change for the Buss family’s roadside inn at 20 Mile Hollow. While some travellers chose to get off at the platform built immediately opposite the inn, most initially carried on up the line to Wentworth Falls and beyond. This later changed in the 1880s, when the inn was adapted to provide guesthouse accommodation.