continued operation of such a short branch was, economically, quite unjustifiable. The river trade was long gone and its last local source of goods traffic, the butter factory, declined rapidly from mid 1952. The line closed on 31 August 1953. References Further reading The Morpeth Branch Dunn, Ian Byways of Steam 14 Eveleigh Press Matraville 1998 Closed regional railway lines in New South Wales Maitland, New South Wales Rail transport in the Hunter Region Standard gauge railways in Australia Railway lines opened in 1870 Railway lines closed in 1953 Morpeth, New South Wales