The first day of July marked one hundred years since the first train roared into Macksville Railway Station.
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But at the time of its inauguration, an epidemic of Spanish Flu - which killed 15,000 Australians - was sweeping across the country and so the 'little station that could' never received its due pomp and circumstance.
On the centenary of the non-event, the wrong was finally righted, and among the dignitaries were Oxley member, Melinda Pavey, New South Wales governor, Margaret Beazley, and representatives of Wauchope District Historical Association.
"We had a very interesting time. It was wonderful," said Daphne Salt from Wauchope, who donned period costume for the event.
For the people of Macksville this was not only an historic event. It opened up that beautiful area, to trade, to industry and to tourism.
Before the railway opened, the only way to get produce to the markets in Sydney was by ocean freight.
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