The railway had arrived in Goulburn in May 1869, however the extension of the line to Yass and beyond to Albury and the Murray River had already been considered in late 1860s.
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This was to counter the movement of trade via the Murray River to Adelaide and bring the trade back to Sydney, because of its importance to NSW retaining the state's share of trade.
There was considerable pressure brought to bear by Yass residents to have the railway line extended to the town, remembering that rail was the main means of transport in those days.
The first survey was carried out in September 1870 where a number of possible routes were investigated.
There are a number of difficulties in running the railway line through the centre of Yass.
In coming through Yass, the line needed to cross the Yass River twice, once near Cooma Cottage and secondly in town itself.
Steel was not manufactured in Australia until 1919 and this route would have required the importation of a metal bridge from England. The cost was prohibitive.
A second consideration was that ideally steam trains should not stop at the bottom of a hill.
Thirdly, there was some consideration given to the railway line from Goulburn, which should allow for horse drawn carriages, necessitating a route that was as flat as possible.
The most favoured route by Mr John Whitton, Engineer-in-Chief of NSW Railways was two miles to the north-west of the town.
Further surveys were carried out to try and bring the railway into North Yass, but this was not possible due to the lack of space within the river corridor.
A tight curve at the probable railway station presented engineering difficulties; hence the railway line went around Yass and not through Yass.
Further pressure was then applied by the community of Yass to extend the railway line from the Main Southern Railway into Yass via a tramway.
On this tramway over the Yass River is the first Pratt truss railway bridge erected in Australia. The stations had to be renamed as Yass Town Station and Yass Junction Station (previously Yass Station on the main line).
The official opening of the Yass Tramway was on Wednesday, April 20, 1892 by Lord Jersey, Governor of NSW, when a bottle of champagne was broken over the engine buffer. The Lady Mayoress officially switched on the town gas supply on this day.
