The Moe-Walhalla line

The need for a railway

Walhalla was always difficult to get to. Established in the bottom of a steep-sided valley and surrounded by high mountains, road access was a nightmare. Sections of road were so steep that wagons had to be lowered by block and tackle. There were frequent accidents where wagons, horses, freight and people were lost over the edge.

Almost from the establishment of the township of Walhalla there was a public call for a rail connection. By and large, these calls were ignored by government. Victoria had established its' railway network on a gauge of 5'3". This meant that curves had to be of a generous radius and to wind a line through to Walhalla would have meant costly earthworks and tunnels.

The narrow gauge solution

Finally a solution was found. In the late 1890s Victoria dabbled with the idea of building narrow gauge branchlines feeding into the main network. By selecting a gauge of 2'6", these lines were able to negotiate their way around hills and valleys rather than cut their way through them. Narrow gauge lines would be considerably cheaper to build than their broad gauge counterparts. Eventually the Victorian Railways would build four experimental narrow gauge lines across the state and one of them ran from Moe to Walhalla.

The Line

Construction on the Moe-Walhalla line started in 1904 and the full length of the line was officially opened on the 3rd May, 1910. All up the line was 26 miles long and cost £104,115 to construct.

Route maps. The inset shows the full length of the line from Moe to Walhalla. The main map concentrates on the Erica to Walhalla section of the line which is where the terrain becomes progressively more rugged.

Leaving Moe the line proceeded gently downhill to cross the Latrobe and Tanjil Rivers before beginning a slight climb away from Gooding, the first station outside of Moe. Just over 3 miles from Gooding the line became progressively steeper with gradients up to one in 30 and curves as tight as 6 chains.

After crossing the watershed between the Latrobe and Tyers valleys, the line descended on equally steep gradients to cross the Tyers River, 9 3/4 miles from Moe. From the Tyers River the line climbed steadily on steep gradients through Gould to Moondarra, 14 3/4 miles from Moe. The line then leveled out somewhat through Watson to Harris (later renamed Erica). At 18 1/4 miles from Moe and 1321 feet above sea level, Erica was the highest point on the whole line.

Leaving Erica, the line crossed Jacobs Creek on a decline before another climb to Knotts Siding. There was then a continuous decent on gradients as steep as 1 in 31 for 4 miles, through Platina, to the Thomson River.

The last two and a quarter miles was the most spectacular as the line climbed into Walhalla along the narrow gorge of Stringers Creek. Most of the last mile was carried on trestles and bridges, there being no room in the gorge for cuttings.

Line closure and decline

Only five years after the line opened, the major mines of Walhalla closed. The town slowly died and the main function of the line was to carry people out of Walhalla, complete with their belongings and houses.

The death of Walhalla left the railway a line to nowhere. There was some timber traffic, mostly from Erica, and some farm produce from stations closer to Moe. A siding at Platina serviced some mines at Coopers Creek as well as lime traffic.

Being narrow gauge, train loads had to be kept relatively small; too small to be economic. The Walhalla line never ran at a profit.

A lack of traffic and the expense of the railway dictated its' fate. In 1944 the section between Platina and Walhalla was closed and the section beyond Erica closed in 1952. The rest of the line was officially closed in 1954.

Relicts

Much of the original formation of the line still exists while some portions have been filled in and others buried under the Moondarra Reservoir.

Walhalla Yards This shot looks northward across the old Walhalla yards from a position about where the station platform used to be. The building in the background is a recent addition, a relict of a failed attempt to create a tourist railway on the site. Originally trains would enter the Walhalla yards via the gap beyond the building. There used to be an engine shed and coaling stage down there between the right of way and the creek.

Thomson River Bridge The Thomson River to the west of Walhalla was always a major hurdle to access. Prior to a road bridge being built across the Thomson in 1890, all access was via more circuitous routes to other towns toward the east such as Toongabbie, Cowwarr and Glengarry. Looking south from the road bridge, this shot shows the rail bridge across Thomson River. On the eastern side (right side of the picture) the line climbed up the ridge beside the river toward Platina. To the west, the line entered Stringers Creek Gorge on its' way to Walhalla.

The Thomson River was the greatest barrier to the railway and required the most substantial bridge built on any of the Victorian narrow gauge lines. This shot looks east across the bridge in its' derelict state. Principally the Thomson River Bridge was three girder spans on four high concrete pylons with short timber trestle bridges at either end. The bridge crosses the river at an angle but the pylons are aligned parallel to the river flow with boat-shaped plinths to minimise resistance to stream flow. In the 1960s the army wanted to blow up the remains of the bridge as a demolition exercise. Luckily they were thwarted by a public outcry and the remains of the bridge slumbered for another 30 years before being refurbished by the Walhalla Goldfields Railway as part of their restoration process for the Walhalla line.

Cooper Creek Road bridge Just beyond Platina the line took a sharp curve turning back on itself and heading north toward the Thomson River Bridge. On the apex of this curve there was (and still is) a road bridge across the line. The road lead to Coopers Creek, a mining area producing mostly copper but the small amounts of platinum found in the mines there gave the local station, Platina, its' name. This shot looks west around the bend showing the Coopers Creek Road bridge across the top. Most of the line is now in this condition: a muddy track that can be negotiated on foot. The section from the road crossing beyond the site of Knotts Siding through to the Thomson River is now a walking track that takes about 2 hours to cover.

The Future

Some of the locomotives and rolling stock that ran on the Moe-Walhalla line are still in use or preserved at Puffing Billy near Melbourne.

As for the line itself, much of it has been reclaimed by local land owners and a significant section has been flooded by the Moondarra Reservoir. Other sections have been destroyed by bushfires or development and the deep cutting below the road to the east of Knotts Siding has been used as a tip for Erica and filled in.

Much of the line formation beyond Knotts Siding is still in reasonable shape although bridges and trestles are in poor condition after 50 years of neglect. The Walhalla Goldfields Railway have begun the task of rebuilding this section of the line.

They started on the western side of the Thomson River, rebuilt the Thomson River Bridge and have proceeded up Stringers Creek Gorge for a couple of kilometers. Eventually they hope to push the line back into the old Walhalla yard but several substantial bridges and trestles need a lot of attention before this can happen.

Once they've made it into Walhalla they plan to turn their attention to the other direction and relay the line back toward Platina. Again, there are significant bridge rebuilding projects required to make this happen but, given time, I'm sure they'll do it!