o. The Yarra Valley Lines

2nd May 2007

Two railways were built in the Yarra Valley, east of Melbourne. The infamous “Octopus Act” of 1884 authorized the building of branch lines all over Victoria, like octopus tentacles. One of these was the 1888 extension of the Lilydale line to Healesville, at the foot of the Great Dividing Range. Under the guidance of Chairman of Commissioners Richard Speight, recruited from the Midland Railway in England, the new lines were built to high standards. The Healesville line had a tunnel (one of only nine on the Victorian Railways), and a timber trestle bridge between Yering and Yarra Glen that was over 7,000 feet (2 km) long. The cost of building these lines helped plunge Victoria into its worst ever Depression, and halted railway construction for nearly a decade.
Lilydale was chosen as the junction of the Warburton line, which served the southern side of the valley. Completed in 1901 with lower engineering standards, there were fewer earthworks, more curves and more frequent changes in gradient. Both lines tapped the eucalypt forests in the mountains, and carried huge volumes of timber and firewood bound for Melbourne, then the largest city in Australasia. The Black Friday fires of 1939 ended all that, and the lines declined to servicing the valley's agriculture. By the early Sixties the writing was on the wall, and the Warburton line closed in 1965. The Sanitarium factory at Warburton (makers of the Weetbix breakfast cereal), then diverted their truck loads of wheat to Healesville, ironically helping to sustain that line for another sixteen years.
Passenger services on both lines were taken over by 153hp Walker railcars in the early Fifties, with one motor and trailer for each line. These were adequate for the modest business, except on public holidays, when day trippers from Melbourne’s suburbs swelled patronage. The VR then sent a set of old carriages to Lilydale to augment the railcars. Two K or J class 2-8-0’s were based at Lilydale for the valley’s goods trains, and one of these was rostered for the passenger train.
It was great while it lasted – close to home, cheap, lovely scenery, steep gradients, timber bridges, a tunnel and steam. The Warburton line is now a bike trail, but earnest efforts are being made to reopen the top end of the Healesville line with a restored Walker railcar. That will be a trip worth taking.

Sort Of Australia Day	Getting There Could Be Fun	Dropping The Super	Worth A Wait
Count The Spans	Yarra Reflection	A Hot Summer Day	Too Useful
Station Landmark	Boxpok not Mags	Tread Softly in No3 Road	Only Once A Week
Remember Black Friday	Yarra Valley Before Vineyards	Work For Sailmakers	Encore!
Girl Likes Engine	Not 150 Again!	Get A Seat In That One!	Full Regulator
Quick Snap	Diminishing Loads	Good Steamer	Off To La La