Whitfield railway line

The Whitfield railway line was a 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge railway located in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, branching from the main North East railway at Wangaratta to the terminus of Whitfield.[1]

Whitfield railway
Overview
StatusClosed
Stations17
Service
TypeMixed passenger/goods service
History
Opened1899
Closed1953
Technical
Line length30.5 mi (49 km)
Track gauge2 ft 6 in (762 mm)
Route map

North East railway line

0 mi 0 ch
0 km
Wangaratta
2 mi 54 ch
4.3 km
Targoora
5 mi 11 ch
8.27 km
Laceby
6 mi 63 ch
10.92 km
Oxley
9 mi 49 ch
15.47 km
Skehan
12 mi 30 ch
19.92 km
Docker
14 mi 31 ch
23.15 km
Byrne
16 mi 34 ch
26.43 km
Moyhu
17 mi 68 ch
28.73 km
Angleside
19 mi 8 ch
30.74 km
Claremont
20 mi 34 ch
32.87 km
Dwyer
22 mi 8 ch
35.57 km
Edi
24 mi 16 ch
38.95 km
Hyem
25 mi 75 ch
41.74 km
King Valley
27 mi 49 ch
44.44 km
Jarrott
28 mi 51 ch
46.09 km
Pieper
38 mi 27 ch
61.7 km
Whitfield

Overview

It was the first of four narrow gauge lines in Victoria. It was unlike the other lines in that it was built through mostly flat, open, agricultural country, following the King River. The 30.5 miles (49 km) line was built as a narrow gauge one because it was thought that it might be extended into the mountainous country to the south, but that never happened. One of the proposed extensions was to Tolmie.[2]

The line was opened in March 1899, and was the first of the narrow gauge lines to close, in October 1953. It relied mostly on local agricultural traffic, and opened with a daily mixed train. By the 1930s, that had been reduced to a weekly goods service, and stayed at that level until the railway closed. There was only one lineside industry, a dairy at Moyhu, and the majority of stations were nameboards at road crossings.

Whitfield to Wangaratta Rail Heritage Trail

The Whitfield to Wangaratta Rail Heritage Trail follows the railway but is an on-road trail, it is not on the actual former railway.[3]

See also

References

  1. "Wangaratta to Whitfield Narrow Gauge Railway". members.optusnet.com.au.
  2. "Railway to Tolmie". Kilmore Free Press. Kilmore, VIC: National Library of Australia. 14 January 1909. p. 4 Edition: MORNING. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  3. "Rail Trails". railtrails.org.au.

36°47′00″S 146°25′00″E

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