common responses for religion were Anglican 27.8%, Catholic 24.5% and No Religion 23.5%. Transport The New England Highway currently passes through the town. A route was selected for a bypass in 2006 but the Australian Government suspended the project in August 2008. Denman Road provides a connection to the Golden Highway. Rail The Muswellbrook railway station, is serviced by local (Newcastle to Scone) and long-distance rail (Sydney to Armidale and Moree) services. Interstate coaches and local bus services also call at the station. Muswellbrook lies at the junction of the Main Northern railway line and the Merriwa line, part of a cross country rail line to Gulgong. As such, it formed an important junction, as well as serving the numerous coal mining sidings found within a short distance from the main station building. Popular culture The Steely Dan song "Black Friday" from the 1975 album Katy Lied contains the lyrics: "When Black Friday comes, I'll fly down to Muswellbrook, gonna strike all the big red words from my little black book. Gonna do just what I please, gonna wear no socks and shoes, with nothing to do but feed all the kangaroos." Songwriter Donald Fagen explained the lyrics in an interview with Paul Cashmere of Undercover Music; "I think we had a map and put our finger down at the place that we thought would be the furthest away from New York or wherever we were at the time". Donald Horne spent his early childhood in Muswellbrook and the first volume of his autobiography, The Education of Young Donald, features an extensive description of life in the town in the 1920s and early 1930s. Muswellbrook is also mentioned in Thomas Keneally's book The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Annual events Blue Heeler Film Festival Muswellbrook Carnivale Muswellbrook and Upper Hunter Eisteddfod Muswellbrook Creative Arts Fair NAIDOC Week Art Awards Noisy Heerler Music Festival (October) St Heliers Heavy Horse Field Days Schools Muswellbrook South Public School Muswellbrook Public School St James Muswellbrook Muswellbrook High School Muswellbrook Pre School Kindergarten Pacific Brook Christian School Little Kindy Muswellbrook Military history During World War II, Muswellbrook was the location of RAAF No.5 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), completed in 1942 and closed on 29 August 1944. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the RAAF and the US Army Air Forces