7:10AM, Stoney Creek bridge. The original 19th-century bridges on the FIngal Line were all timber trestles, like this one at Stoney Creek, just east of Llewellyn station. By the 1950s these bridges were not worth maintaining and a decade-long program of gradual replacement commenced. A hazard speed restriction of 10 or 15mph applied to timber trestle bridges.
7:22AM, Eastbourne, 12 miles from Conara Junction, has no village around it. Onboard passengers intending to alight here had to advise the guard, while those waiting to board had to flag the train down. Half the listed Fingal line locations in the 1952 working timetable (8 out of 16) have similar provisions, while another quarter are not passenger stations but mine junctions or sidings (Malahide, Silkstone, Mt Nicholas, and Jubilee). The stock yard was not seeing much use by 1952, the transport needs of the local pastoralists being met by the adjacent Esk Highway.
7:28AM. The Fingal line crosses the Esk Highway 4 times in the first half of its length from Conara, then the highway stays immediately south of the railway from there to St Marys. The crossing just east of Eastbourne is the second such crossing. As with the crossing of the Midland Highway at Conara, there were no automated warning lights or barriers in 1952. Signs to sound the whistle and reduce speed to 15mph were safety precautions which had to be observed by approaching train drivers.
