Walhalla Goldfields Railway
Talk of a railway connection from Moe to Walhalla started a decade after gold was discovered, but thirty years passed before work started. It was to be the last of four experimental narrow-gauge lines constructed by the Victorian Railways and when opened was one of the most picturesque train routes in Australia. Unfortunately, just four years after the rail service commenced the two main mines in Walhalla had ceased operation. The rail service to Walhalla subsequently closed in 1944 but continued to operate carrying passengers and freight – primarily timber – between Moe and Erica until 1954. A major effort to restore part of the track as a tourist railway began in 1993. Today, the 4 km of rail from Walhalla to a station at Thomson River Bridge (at the end of the bridge shown in this historical photo) carries many more passengers each year than it did as an operational passenger service.
Talk of a railway connection from Moe to Walhalla started a decade after gold was discovered, but thirty years passed before work started. It was to be the last of four experimental narrow-gauge lines constructed by the Victorian Railways and when opened was one of the most picturesque train routes in Australia. Unfortunately, just four years after the rail service commenced the two main mines in Walhalla had ceased operation. The rail service to Walhalla subsequently closed in 1944 but continued to operate carrying passengers and freight – primarily timber – between Moe and Erica until 1954. A major effort to restore part of the track as a tourist railway began in 1993. Today, the 4 km of rail from Walhalla to a station at Thomson River Bridge (at the end of the bridge shown in this historical photo) carries many more passengers each year than it did as an operational passenger service.
Talk of a railway connection from Moe to Walhalla started a decade after gold was discovered, but thirty years passed before work started. It was to be the last of four experimental narrow-gauge lines constructed by the Victorian Railways and when opened was one of the most picturesque train routes in Australia. Unfortunately, just four years after the rail service commenced the two main mines in Walhalla had ceased operation. The rail service to Walhalla subsequently closed in 1944 but continued to operate carrying passengers and freight – primarily timber – between Moe and Erica until 1954. A major effort to restore part of the track as a tourist railway began in 1993. Today, the 4 km of rail from Walhalla to a station at Thomson River Bridge (at the end of the bridge shown in this historical photo) carries many more passengers each year than it did as an operational passenger service.
Historical image: Lee Brothers. (1890). Lee collection of photographs of the Walhalla region, Victoria, National Library of Australia, nla.obj-152075591
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