And after decades of ducking and dodging by various authorities it seems that it’s Lithgow Council that’s responsible for the old railway bridge over Inch Street, just a few metres from Eskbank House.

Confirmation of just who wears the mantle of ownership came in Lithgow Council when Cr Frank Inzitari sought a plan to overcome the decades of inactivity and questioned the ‘current status of ownership’.

He said this had become a matter of some priority in view of a push to develop this part of town as a heritage tourism precinct.

He asked for a report on incorporating the bridge into a ‘functional plan’ to create a pedestrian walkway to link Blast Furnace Park with Eskbank House.

The bridge was constructed in 1911 by Hoskins Ltd to connect the blast furnace with the rolling mills on the site of today’s Marjorie Jackson Oval.

Years later it was used as a rail siding for milk trains making deliveries to the Inch Street milk depot until that role was taken over by road transport.

Since that time the siding has been disused and increasingly falling into disrepair.