Category Archives: Railways

Along the Tocumwal railway line

Last time I wrote about my visit to Tocumwal, mentioning the Pacific National freight service from Tocumwal to Appleton Dock, Melbourne. The railway reached Shepparton in 1880, then was extended to Numurkah in 1881, Strathmerton in 1905 and finally to Tocumwal in 1908. Passenger services ran until 1986 but carriage of grain and livestock was the main source of revenue. So let’s go up the line from Shepparton to Tocumwal with a quick stop at each intermediate station site. Figures in brackets are the distance from Shepparton and population.

Congupna (7.1km, 620)

A now-disused siding served what is now a fertiliser depot. A mound of earth is all that is left of the former station platform. Next to the fertiliser depot there’s a park, Pony Paddock Park, and next to the park a primary school. The school has 54 pupils and a teaching staff of 8 – very different to the average city school! A plaque explains the park’s name:

PONY PADDOCK PARK

In the early days children either walked or rode ponies to Congupna Primary School. In 1922 provision was made next to the school to house students’ ponies during school hours. By 1934 some of the larger families came to school by horse and gig. The ponies were left in the Pony Paddock with feed and water and harnessed up again after school.

In 1976 the use of the Pony Paddock ceased as the family car took over. In the year 2000 the Congupna/Tallygaroopna Landcare members cleared and cleaned this paddock of all noxious weeds and trees and set about transforming this derelict area into a native park… which opened in December 2004.

Tallygaroopna (14.2km, 600)

The Goulburn Valley Stock and Property Journal, 15 March 1933, reported that:

“after careful consideration and close examination of six schemes for the bulk handling of wheat within the last five months, the experts appointed by the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. J.Allan) submitted their scheme to the Cabinet last week. The scheme is estimated to cost £2,000,000, and will include the erection of 160 country silos at railway stations with terminals at Williamstown and Geelong. … It is proposed to build silos of the following capacity at stations in the northern district: — 50,000 bushels at Rochester, Tallygaroopna, Wunghnu, Numurkah …”. The Tallygaroopna silo went into service in 1941 and was in use until 1987. The station also had stockyards for sheep and cattle.

According to the RBA inflation calculator, £2m in 1933 would be about A$250m now,

Wunghnu (23.5km, 334)

The weighbridge can still be seen as well as the silo. The Goulburn Valley Stock and Property Journal, 26 March 1941, reported:

WUNGHNU SILO Nearing Completion

The silo at the Wunghnu railway station being built by the Government to replace the grain shed is beginning to tower up, and when completed, will hold a considerable quantity of grain. The silo can be seen for some considerable distance, as it is well above the tree tops and still going up. It ought to make a wonderful look-out as well if there is a way left to get to the top.

Numurkah (30.4km, 4768)

As can be inferred from the population, Numurkah is a larger settlement than the others listed here. Next to rail tracks site Graincorp have a huge facility for processing Canola and other oilseeds, though everything is now moved in and out by road.

The station platform and footbridge still exist, and what I presume was formerly the station building is now occupied by a funeral director.

Katunga (41.0km, 996)

Another c.1940 silo. Before this was built, a good harvest could see 100,000 sacks of grain being stacked up for shipment.

Strathmerton (53.1km, 1072)

Nothing much remains except for the platform. Back in May 1899 “A very enthusiastic and representative meeting of farmers and others was” held at Strathmerton on Saturday night for the purpose of forming a league to agitate for the extension of the railway line from Strathmerton to Tocumwal.” It took some time. The Corowa Free Press, 14 July 1908, reported:

STRATHMERTON – TOCUMWAL RAIILWAY

“The new railway line from Strathmerton to Tocumwal crossing the Murray was opened on Thursday last. A large crowd of residents and railway officials were present. The first train was a sheep special of 40 trucks. The new station is equipped with a good yard and facilities for loading sheep and cattle. The ordinary passenger train came in on Thursday afternoon. It is intended to have a banquet later to celebrate the event.“

And for more on Tocumwal, see last month’s post.

Perhaps in time the silo art brigade will get to these silos – we can hope!

Victorian Places A-Z

Interstate mini-break: Tocumwal

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Last week I went on a two-night break to Tocumwal. It’s a small town 291km/182mi north of Melbourne, on the north bank of the Murray River so in New South Wales. The town was established in the early 1860s. As with the other Murray river communities, paddle steamers were initially the way in which goods were imported and exported.

The bridge

The Murray bridge opened in 1895. It has three spans, the centre originally being liftable for navigation. The last lift for navigational purposes was in 1933. The span was last raised in 1995 to mark the bridge’s centenary, following which it was welded shut. Initially built for road traffic only, the bridge was strengthened and adapted for rail traffic in 1908. It was then used for both road and rail traffic until November 1987, when a separate road bridge was opened, and continues to carry the occasional freight train.

The railway

On the Victorian side of the river a 53km/33mi rail line from Shepparton to Strathmerton in opened 1888, later being extended to a temporary terminus on the south side of the Murray opposite Tocumwal. Following agreement between the Victorian and NSW governments this line was taken across the bridge to a new VR-operated station, Tocumwal, opened in 1908. A NSWR branch to Tocumwal opened in 1914 creating a break-of-gauge station, NSW railways being standard gauge (4’8½”,1435mm), Victorian Railways, broad gauge (5’3”, 1600mm). Note that by rail it’s about 250km to Melbourne and 760km to Sydney.

The last NSWR train to Tocumwal ran in 1986 and the entire SG line was closed in 1988. The last VR passenger service to Tocumwal ran on 8 November 1975 but the line remains open for freight traffic: Pacific National runs container and grain trains to the Port of Melbourne several times each week.

Much of the original rail infrastructure has gone but the station buildings have been given a new lease of life as the Tocumwal Railway Heritage Museum. Unlike Newport Railway Museum where I am a volunteer, there’s no rolling stock, but there are lots of maps, pictures and other items of interest.

For more on Tocumwal’s railway history, see Newsrail, May 2005.

Museums

Just out of town is Tocumwal Aviation Museum which opened in 2021. Tocumwal might at first seem to be just another small relatively unimportant place but during WW2 it saw the construction of the largest aerodrome in the southern hemisphere which was home to many aircraft and was also a vast storage and repair depot for many aircraft types including Avro Anson, Beaufort, Boeing, Dakota, Hudson, Lancaster, Lincoln, Meteor, Mosquito, Mustang, Spitfire, Beaufighter, Vampire and Wirraway. No. 7 Operational Training Unit RAAF was based at Tocumwal from 1944. After the RAAF left Tocumwal in 1960, over 700 aircraft were scrapped through until 1963. There’s an excellent pictorial here.

Chrystie’s Classics and Collectibles Museum is a place which is hard to describe. You’ll find all sorts of things here: classic cars, old agricultural implements and a vast range of collectibles.

And … last but not least

My two nights in Tocumwal bracketed Anzac Day 2025. Anzac Day commemorates the ANZAC forces landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. As is the custom across Australia, the day was marked with a dawn service, then, later, the main service with guest speakers and wreath laying. The latter drew a huge crowd including all the children from local schools.

All in all an interesting and enjoyable trip, seeing and learning new things.

Tocumwal location (https://free-map.org)

A trip to Benton Rise Farm

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Like most Australians, I buy nearly all my food from my local supermarket. I know that I ought to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and with the Queen Victoria and South Melbourne markets within walking distance I’ve really no excuse. Further afield, Victoria is home to numerous farmers’ markets and farm shops.

A few weeks ago Channel 9 TV’s Postcards programme featured a farm shop with a difference, Benton Rise Farm. What’s special? The site is now home to a 1955 W-class Melbourne tram and a 1910 ‘Red Rattler’ train carriage which houses the farm shop.

752 W-class trams were built by the Melbourne & Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) between 1923 and 1956, the majority at the MMTB’s Preston Workshops. Tram 1005 entered service April 1955, then was stored from 2000 to 2009 when it was returned to service, to be permanently withdrawn from service in 2015. In 2019 it was moved to its current site and is set up for children to play in.

Wooden-bodied Tait carriages, 623 in total, were built from 1910 in preparation for the electrification of Melbourne’s suburban railways. Initially they were steam hauled. Between 1917 and 1922 they were converted to run on electric power. They were progressively withdrawn from 1974, the longest-serving (including this one, 256M) lasting to 1984-85, a service life of around 70 years. They’d been banned from the City Loop from 1982 due to the fire hazard presented by their wooden bodies, so spent most of their final years on the Port Melbourne, St Kilda and Sandringham lines.

Both train and tram are – and I’m sure the owners won’t mind me saying this – in poor condition, badly needing some TLC. Hopefully they’ll get it before too long.

As for the farm, there’s a good café where I enjoyed banana bread and coffee. As said above, the railway carriage is home to the farm shop with lots of local produce on offer; I came away with locally-sourced honey and marmalade. Outside, children will enjoy seeing the sheep and goats, and there’s a playground and space to have a picnic.

Farm address: 150 Coolart Rd, Tuerong VIC 3915

Farm website

Mamma knows South review

Adelaide 2024

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2024 started with two cruises, each of which included a visit to Adelaide.

Cruise one, January, on the Grand Princess, started and ended in Melbourne. Ports visited: Adelaide, Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln in South Australia, then Phillip Island in Victoria.

My trips to Adelaide usually include – not to the surprise of anyone who knows me – a trip to the National Railway Museum at Port Adelaide, but not this time. Instead I took the train from Outer Harbour (next to where cruise ships dock) to Adelaide, then a second train to Belair, 21.5km south.

My interest in Belair goes back to seeing the station and park entrance from the Overland train on earlier trips to/from Adelaide. The railway line and Belair station opened in 1883. Following gauge conversion of one track in 1995 the Belair line is now effectively two parallel single-track lines: the Belair-Adelaide commuter line (still broad gauge, 1600mm) and the standard gauge (1435mm) freight line, also used by the twice-weekly Overland.

The Belair National Park opened in 1891 – the second national park in Australia after Sydney’s Royal Park – and soon up to 1,000 visitors were visiting on weekends and public holidays. In 1893 dedicated picnic trains to Belair station were introduced, met by horse-drawn trolleys to transport passengers into the park. Now of course most visitors arrive by car. For reasons of time, temperature (34C) and a desire not to get lost, my walk in the park went no further than the lake but I enjoyed my time there. Then back to the station and ship.

Cruise two, February, was on the magnificent Queen Mary 2, a ten-night cruise from Fremantle to Sydney. This was one leg of the QM2’s 2024 world cruise. Several hundred of my fellow passengers had joined the ship in New York and would be disembarking there 126 days later! Much too long for me, even if I were able to afford it.

As before I took the train to Adelaide. The station, rebuilt 1926-28, is a magnificent building and is currently being renovated. A short walk through the station leads to the Adelaide Parklands and River Torrens. As luck would have it, the pleasure cruiser Popeye was just about to leave for a sightseeing cruise up and down river so I went aboard. The first Popeye was launched in 1935 and was so popular that three new boats were built between 1948 and 1950. The third fleet, currently in service, was launched in the early 1980s. An interesting trip with an excellent commentary.

Then back to the train, this time breaking my journey at Port Adelaide for a short visit to the railway museum. With the temperature climbing to 35.7C (96F), I was glad of the shade afforded by the museum sheds. The big change from my previous visits is that a new Port Dock railway line is being built to the rear of the museum site, reinstating a line that was there from 1856-1981. The museum occupies the former goods yard. Then back to the ship and on to Melbourne and Sydney.

Given Australian geography affords a limited number of cruise destinations, I’m sure that another cruise will see me back in Adelaide before too long.

Click on a picture to expand/contract it

A trip to Hurstbridge

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Yesterday I decided to do something different and took the train out to Hurstbridge, 28km NE of Melbourne CBD, 38km by rail.

The railway was extended to Eltham in 1902 and then to Hurstbridge in 1912. The Eltham-Hurstbridge section was electrified in 1926. Parts of the line are still single track though a number of these sections have recently been or are currently being duplicated. The last part of the line passes through native bushland.

The area that is now Hurstbridge was first settled by Cornelius Haley in 1842. He engaged Henry Hurst as manager. In 1857 Henry and his family took over the estate. Significantly, he built the first log bridge across the Diamond Creek.

Sadly on 4th October 1866, Henry Hurst was fatally wounded by a bushranger, Robert Bourke. Bourke was tried, found guilty of murder and hanged.

The township was progressively known as Allwood, Upper Diamond Creek, Hurst’s Bridge, Hurst Bridge and, since 1954, Hurstbridge.

Although dry and sunny it was a cold day so I didn’t spend long there but am hoping to return for the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival (last Sunday in August). One of the promised attractions is that Steamrail will be running steam-hauled shuttle trains.

The excellently signed heritage trail (PDF) takes in thirty buildings and other places of interest; I got to see about half of them.

Of particular note was the Little Bank Building, constructed so that it could be pulled from site to site by a team of horses or bullocks, and Saunders Garage, built 1912 as an engineering workshop then used as a motor mechanics since 1952. In addition, the op (charity) shops could have engaged me for a good while.

Then back to the station for the city-bound train – during the day it’s a 40-minutes service.

I broke my journey at Eltham to take a look at the historic trestle bridge. It’s the only surviving timber trestle bridge on the Victorian rail network. In the 1980s a plan to replace it was strongly resisted by local residents. They won and the bridge survived. It is now heritage listed.

The bridge is 195m long, 38 spans, and roughly 120 trains pass over it each day. It’s 121 years old … well not really, since none of the original members remain. When members are replaced the installation date is chiselled into the new member.

Then home – a good trip.

Taitset YouTube videos:

The Hurstbridge line

Eltham trestle bridge

Hurstbridge line map showing duplication works in progress (Victoria’s big build)

Portland mini-break

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Map of SW Victoria

With nothing on my travel calendar until next year’s cruises, it was time for another mini break. This time I headed west to Portland, on the coast 350km from Melbourne.

What is now Portland was for thousands of years the home of the Gunditjmara people, then from around 1800 it became a whaling port. In 1834, the year before Melbourne was founded, the Hentys, a sheep-farming family originally from Sussex, moved across from Tasmania and Portland became the first European settlement in Victoria. By 1845 their holdings extended over 70,000 acres.

Portland Harbour (note B-double truck unloading in the background). The heaps of what looks like sand are woodchips

Through the nineteenth century the township grew, helped by the arrival of the railway in 1877. The now freight-only line (the last passenger train to Portland ran in 1981) was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge in 1995. Harbour trade was limited until the construction of a massive new breakwater during the 1950s. In 1952 when construction began, 21 vessels called at Portland to transfer 45,000 tonnes of petroleum products and 6,513 tonnes of food. By 1960 trade had reached 200,000 tonnes.

Today trade has grown to 7.6 million tonnes per year primarily comprising woodchips which are exported to China and Japan. They arrive on a seemingly non-stop procession of B-double trucks. It takes around 1,000 truckloads of chips to fill a ship. The trucks are driven on to ramps which then tilt them to about 45 degrees, the chips then falling out under gravity – watching the trucks unloading engaged me for a good while, as did watching a ship laden with wind turbine parts being brought into the harbour assisted by the harbour tugs.

Portland cable tram

But there’s more to Portland than the port. The town is home to dozens of well-preserved 19C buildings. One key attraction is the Portland Cable Tram, opened in 2002 – it’s not actually a cable tram; propulsion is by means of a diesel engine. The two grip cars are replicas of ones that ran in Melbourne until 1940. The two saloon cars in service began life in Melbourne in 1886.

The tram runs from the depot which houses an interesting museum, past the Botanic Gardens and port, along the foreshore past the Maritime Discovery Centre on to the 25 metre-high water tower which also serves as a lookout and museum to World War II. It then reverses to return to the depot. Amazingly, given that Portland is a town of only 10,000 people, the tram is operated seven days a week by a team of 60 volunteers.

Portland Powerhouse Motor Museum

Also run by volunteers and open every day is the Powerhouse Motor and Car Museum. I’ve been to many classic car museums but the interest never wanes. Lots to see: the cars themselves, vintage signs, a collection of stationary farm engines, a diesel tractor, penny farthings, pedal cars, old tools, model cars and much else. My visit fortuitously coincided with a short but heavy storm.

History House (the 1863 Town Hall)

I’ve already mentioned the Maritime Museum which also houses the visitor centre. History House (the original town hall) tells the story of the area and is but one of several dozen mid-Victorian stone buildings.

I stayed at the much more recent Comfort Inn which did me well, dining each night at the 1856 Mac’s Hotel which I can thoroughly recommend for reasonably price bistro-style meals.

All in all a good if short break.

More about the port
Map from Freeworldmap.net

Adelaide 2022

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Adelaide bound!

Slowly things are getting back to normal. For myself I’m not making any overseas trips this year. It’s a sign of the times that even deciding to take a short trip to Adelaide seemed almost adventurous. I’ve been there several times, firstly in 2009, then in 2012 and 2013, in 2018 spending a few nights there at the end of a two night cruise from Melbourne, returning on the Overland train and in 2020 – my last pre-Covid interstate trip – spending the day there as part of a cruise.

This time I decided to take the Overland in both directions – for me the train rides would be as much part of the break as the stay in Adelaide. The service now only runs twice a week, Mondays and Fridays from Melbourne, Sundays and Thursdays from Adelaide. Being busy, I decided to go out on the Monday and return on the Thursday, giving me three nights, two full days there.

Mount Elephant from the Overland

Monday dawned – an 0805 departure from Southern Cross station, just ten minutes walk from home, made for a relaxed start. Comfortably seated, we set off through the industrialised western suburbs. Breakfast served, lunch order (Malaysian curry for me) taken, and then I sat back to enjoy the ride. Past Geelong, having read Marcus Wong’s blog I looked out for Mount Elephant. And unhurriedly the day passed, the last bit of the journey through the Adelaide Hills, like the first but for different reasons, being the most interesting. After sitting for eleven hours I was happy to take a forty minute walk from the Keswick rail terminal into the CBD where the Holiday Inn Express was to be my base.

On the Tuesday, following a walk round the CBD, I went (surprise, not!) back to the National Railway Museum. I wrote about this in 2018 so won’t say much here other than to say that every time I see something new. Then back to the city for a tram ride to Glenelg beach for dinner.

National Motor Museum building, Birdwood SA

Wednesday’s plan also involved visiting a museum – the National Motor Museum at Birdwood, about an hour’s drive from Adelaide. During my first four years in Melbourne I didn’t own a car, joining the Flexicar car share scheme instead. When I got my own car I decided to keep my Flexicar membership as an insurance policy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they now operate in Adelaide, so a paperwork-free Corolla Hybrid was mine for the day.

The first Holden, a 1948 48-215

The museum, Australia’s biggest motoring collection with a claimed 400 vehicles on display, didn’t disappoint. As well as cars, there were lots of motorcycles, commercial vehicles and all sorts of motoring-related ephemera.

Given that the museum is in South Australia, a bias towards Holdens wasn’t too surprising. Amongst those on display was the first Australia Holden, a 1948 48-215 and the one millionth Holden, a 1962 EJ.

The millionth Holden – a 1962 EJ

It’s extraordinary to look at the displays and see how Holden grew to dominate the Australian car market, from producing its first car in 1948 to holding a 50% market share in 1958, only to see this progressively fall, with Toyota becoming Australia’s leading marque in 2003 and Holden producing their last car in Australia in 2017. The Holden name was used for imported GM cars until 2021, then dropped. All, sadly, a bit reminiscent of BMC’s one-time dominance turning to dust.

Several hours later I’d seen everything – well most things – so went across the road for lunch, then drove down to Hahndorf, a town in the Adelaide Hills established by German emigrants in 1838.

The German Inn, Hahndorf, originally Sonneman’s Bakery (1863)

I went there in my first visit to Adelaide in 2009, so a revisit was in order. The German heritage is still evident: in particular there’s a shop that sells cuckoo clocks and Christmas decorations.

Then back to Adelaide for dinner and an early night – up at 0530 Thursday for the 0655 train back to Melbourne. Another relaxed day being well looked after by the Overland crew, then back to reality!

100 years of the K

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Last weekend, the Labour Day long weekend here in Victoria, was for those of us interested in railways a special weekend, Steamrail’s open weekend. Thousands of visitors made the journey to Newport to see Steamrail’s operational steam locos in steam (and much else beside).

Steamrail’s loco K153 dressed as K100

Between 1902 and 1919 Victorian Railways took delivery of 261 Dd locomotives, but something a little more powerful yet able to run on light lines was needed.

Alfred Smith, VR Chief Mechanical Engineer from 1919, oversaw the design of a new 2-8-0 locomotive, designated the K class. During 1922-23 ten were built, making this year the K’s centenary. None of this batch survive but Steamrail’s 2022 ‘surprise’ was displaying K153 as ‘K100’ without smoke deflectors and with an oil lamp instead of electric.

Following the 1921 Royal Commission on the matter of uniform railway gauge the policy was set that all new locomotives should be capable of being converted from broad/Irish gauge (5’3”, 1600mm) to standard gauge (4’8½”, 1435mm). The K’s firebox, set between the frames, made gauge conversion impossible. The solution was to use the K as the basis for a new locomotive, the 2-8-2 N class, its grate above the frames being supported by a trailing truck. 30 were built between 1925 and 1931, more later bringing the total to 83. And that might have left the K as a small and forgotten class.

But no. The N-class had one serious drawback. The trailing truck made it too long to turn the loco+tender on the small 53 foot diameter turntables found on many rural lines (the loco and tender would each need to be turned separately, something crews did not enjoy).

K165 (1941) at Newport Railway Museum

The K’s might have been few in number but they were liked by their crews. During the mid-1930s they were equipped with VR’s ‘Modified Front End’ giving improved performance but necessitating the addition of smoke deflectors. The provision of a steam powered generator and electric headlamp was another welcome improvement.

By the end of the 1930s more motive power was necessary. The gauge conversion requirement was put to one side. 43 more K’s were built between 1940 and 1946.

Withdrawal
During the 1950s K class locos were progressively withdrawn, T class diesels replacing them. Many were sold to local councils for display in parks. The lower weight of the K made it a popular choice as VR offered locomotives for the price of their scrap value plus freight. Happy carefree days when children could scramble all over them with no thought of health and safety!

Preservation
Just one N class loco survives, N 432, the last steam locomotive built by VR’s Newport Workshops, now in the Newport Railway Museum. In contrast 21 of the original 53 K class survive, four in operational condition. Want to ride behind one? Check out Steamrail’s tours.

By way of background: In 1853 an Act was passed making it compulsory for all railways in New South Wales to be of 5 ft 3 in track gauge. The Governors of Victoria and South Australia accepted this as the standard gauge for Australia. The following year the Sydney-Parramatta railway company revised the proposed gauge and succeeded in having the 1852 Act repealed and a new Act passed setting the gauge for New South Wales at 4 ft 8½ in. This step was taken without reference to either South Australia or Victoria where various private companies had placed large orders for 5 ft 3 in gauge rolling stock. Both these Colonies decided to adhere to the 5ft 3 in gauge. Unfortunately!^

Two nights at Swan Hill

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Map (source Echuca Discovery Centre)

With memories of my March Echuca mini-break fading, I decided it was time for another short break travelling by train. This trip was to Swan Hill, about 155km NW of Echuca and, like Echuca, on the south bank of the River Murray which separates Victoria and New South Wales.

The Echuca and Swan Hill lines share the same track as far as Bendigo (164km/100mi from Melbourne), after which the line to Swan Hill branches off for the 183km/114mi run to Swan Hill.

Swan Hill lift bridge

The railway reached Swan Hill in 1890, subsequently being extended for a further 42km, now freight-only, to Piangil. No prizes for speed – the journey takes 4:42, an average speed of 74kph/46mph – but the leisurely pace is made up for by the affordable comfort of travelling first class – the return fare was just A$108/£60. I stayed at the Jane Eliza motel across from the station and was very comfortable there.

PS Pyap

What to do? There are a number of attractions in the area if you have a car, but if on foot there’s really just one, the Pioneer Settlement. It claims to be Australia’s first open-air museum and opened in 1963.

The train arrived at 1227 giving me time to check in at the motel and then get down to the Settlement for the river cruise.

Village by night

It’s a good job that the tickets cover admission for two days since I spent the rest of the afternoon and the whole of the next day there, and I’m still not sure whether I saw everything. You can find lots of information on the Settlement’s history, buildings and contents in Heritage Victoria’s report recommending that it be added to the state register. Not everyone wants this.

Highlights for me:

The PS Pyap cruise: In contrast to Echuca, there’s just this one paddle steamer offering a one-hour cruise each afternoon. Shades of George Washington’s axe, she was built in 1896 but has been re-hulled, re-decked and her engine replaced with a Gardiner diesel.

PS Gem

Wandering round the now-static PS Gem, the largest paddle steamer to trade on the Murray. She was built in 1876. In 1882 she was sawn in half by hand, and the two parts were pulled apart by bullocks to allow an extra one third to be built in between the two parts. In more recent times several cruise ships have been cut and stretched, though without the use of bullocks!

D3 locomotive and 1924 Dodge Tourer

A ride in the Settlement’s 1924 Dodge Tourer (included in ticket price, as is the carriage ride)

Seeing the Castlemaine-built D3 locomotive – like many of our exhibits at the Newport Railway Museum in need of some TLC.
Victorian Railways Dd fleet ran to 261 locos from nine builders including Baldwin in the USA and Beyer Peacock, Manchester

Blacksmith at work

More than a few exhibits, especially the traction engines, were a reminder of Britain being the workshop of the world.

Watching a blacksmith at work is always compelling

Visiting all the Settlement buildings – I went to the laser light show so was also able to see them after dark.

Giant Murray Cod

I did say that the Settlement was Swan Hill’s one real attraction but I’ll end with mentioning Swan Hill’s contribution to Australia’s fixation with giant things, the Giant Murray Cod.

With this trip done, I’ve just one more Victorian rail line to ride: the line to Bairnsdale. Watch this space!

Three nights in Echuca

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Map (source Discovery Centre)

No cruise this year! Well not the cruise I’d planned anyway, on the Queen Mary 2 from Fremantle to Sydney. But needing a break, I decided to revisit Echuca, famous for hosting the largest paddle steamer fleet in the world and, of course, took a couple of boat trips.

As a tourist from UK I’d visited Echuca in 1989 on a day trip but not since so a revisit was well overdue.

Echuca railway station

This time round I went by train – another of my ambitions, not a particularly ambitious one, is to ride every rail track in Victoria. Only Bairnsdale and Swan Hill left! Echuca has a fine railway station but it now gets but one train per weekday, two a day at weekends.

PS Alexander Arbuthnot passes the new under-construction Echuca-Moama bridge

PS Alexander Arbuthnot (1916) passes the new under-construction Echuca-Moama bridge

Echuca was first settled by Europeans in the 1850s and by the 1870s was Australia’s largest inland port, being the point of shortest distance between the Murray River and Melbourne. Across the river, on the New South Wales side, is Moama. The first bridge was constructed in 1878. A new bridge is now under construction.

Echuca wharf

The railway arrived in 1864, about the same time as the wharf was constructed. Until the 1890s depression the town flourished, but during the first half of the twentieth century the expansion of the rail networks on both sides of the river meant there was less need to for paddle steamers to bring cargo to Echuca. 1944 saw the removal of 80% of the wharf, cut up to provide firewood for Melbourne.

PS Pevensey (aka Philadelphia in 'All the Rivers Run')

PS Pevensey (1910) (aka Philadelphia in ‘All the Rivers Run’)

From here on the story might have been one of progressive decay, but from the 1960s the importance of Echuca’s heritage and its tourist potential was realised.

Today tourism is Echuca’s largest earner, given a boost by the TV series, ‘All the Rivers Run’ (I bought and am now watching the DVDs).

Holden Museum, Echuca

Apart from the wharf and multiple paddle steamer trips, there’s an excellent and free Discovery Centre, numerous preserved buildings in the port area and elsewhere, an excellent museum, the National Holden Motor Museum and more.

Next year, if plans work out, I’ll be back in Echuca, taking UK friends to see the sights. If you have the chance, do so too.

Tony Bryer

Bits and pieces from my life

Category Archives: Railways

Along the Tocumwal railway line

Congupna (7.1km, 620)

Tallygaroopna (14.2km, 600)

Wunghnu (23.5km, 334)

Numurkah (30.4km, 4768)

Katunga (41.0km, 996)

Strathmerton (53.1km, 1072)

Interstate mini-break: Tocumwal

The bridge

The railway

Museums

And … last but not least

A trip to Benton Rise Farm

Adelaide 2024

A trip to Hurstbridge

Portland mini-break

Adelaide 2022

100 years of the K

Two nights at Swan Hill

Three nights in Echuca