| Victoria was a bastion of broad gauge, although it was a close thing. Parliament nearly fell for Fairlie’s propaganda in 1871, but at the eleventh hour was talked out of narrow gauge by the Engineer-in-Chief. But narrow gauge died hard, and twenty five years later four isolated 2’6” gauge branch lines were built. Only one survived into the Sixties, but as it died one of the others was resurrected; the famous Puffing Billy Railway.
Accompanying these lines were the private timber tramways that proliferated in the Great Dividing Range. They were built to any old gauge, almost always narrow, and used any kind and condition of rail. But they had been wiped out on Black Friday 1939, when a third of Victoria went up in flames. A couple of mines also had narrow gauge railways. The brown coal open cuts in Gippsland were served by an impressive 900mm gauge electrified railway, but Australian Cement Limited near Geelong was the only significant user of steam into the “Sixties”. Their 3’6” gauge railway offered a feast of unusual engines, with a friendly workforce glad to make it accessible. The three mile line also boasted Victoria's longest and steepest tunnel; 4,600 feet on a 1 in 37 gradient! There was a lovely timber trestle bridge across the Moorabool River to cap it off. Like many lads of my era, visits to the cement works at Fyansford were many, and work as a volunteer with the PBPS on “The Little Railway” provided a training ground that launched railway careers. |
Copy That |
Boiler Swap |
Frenchy’s Engine |
War Engine |
Fruits of Exploration |
Mine Pilot |
Adventures in Heavy Industry |
Cement Patina |
A Little Cutie from Leeds |
A Necessary Encumbrance |
A Simple Solution |
Day One In A New Home |
We Too Go Thru in ‘62 |
The Heritage Look |
The Whitfield Motor |
Broken Down |
Blow Up |
Rough Hewn |
Time for Crib |
Topped Up and Fed Up |
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© 1998-2009 Michael Venn - All copyrights rest with the Author [ descript.ion | Index ] |