the station, with a further five stalls added in 1920. In November 1954, the turntable was replaced by a example to allow 60 class locomotives to be turned. Eventually a cross-country line was built from Binnaway near Coonabarabran to Werris Creek, thus linking the northern line to both the Main Western and Main Southern, lines. The population soared to 2,500 as workers flocked to staff and service the countless trains that came and went day and night and Werris Creek became known as the "town that never sleeps". For approximately 70 years Werris Creek was the largest railway centre in northern New South Wales, the depot alone employing 800 people. From the 1970s, the railway began to decline, but it still remains an important part of the network, with Pacific National still using the depot. The introduction of diesel locomotives and centralisation of the rail system led to the demise of the complex's importance. The jobs of tradesmen servicing steam trains disappeared. The population halved as rail jobs fell from 800 to 100. Town morale sank as its heart and soul began to disappear. Even though passenger and freight trains still passed through Werris Creek, as they still do, it seemed destined to become yet another country town fading into oblivion. Monument and museum In 1989 a committee led by Chris Holley – a former porter, shunter, guard and controller, strongly supported by a band of fellow retired railmen such as veteran yard master Les Brown – vowed that Werris Creek would not die. Their determination led to the acceptance of a plan envisaged by Dr Stuart Sharp, of the former NSW State Rail Authority Heritage Unit, involving creation of an Australian Railway Monument. The high stainless steel sculptures this comprises depict a fettler, shunter and firemen, a signalman, gatekeeper and flag lady. The sculptor is Dominique Sutton who also worked on Sydney Olympic Park. They look down on a specially landscaped amphitheatre beside the railway station. Memorial walls complement the amphitheatre and contain more than 2,400 names of all those railway people who had lost their lives either at work or from injuries received at work. While funding came principally from the NSW Government ($1.3m), some 40 townsfolk – mostly former railway men and women pledged themselves as volunteers to run the complex. It opened on 1 October 2005 as the Australian Railway Monument and the Rail Journeys Museum