| Cobram railway line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Overview | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Closed and dismantled | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Termini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stations | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator(s) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commenced | April 1887 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1 October 1888 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last passenger service | 21 August 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Line closed | 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technical | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of tracks | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Victorian broad gauge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Cobram railway line was a short branch of the Tocumwal line in the north-eastern region of the Victorian railway network.
A town began to develop near pastoralist Octavius Philpott's Cobram Station around 1868. The Great Central Railway League, formed to advocate for construction of a line from the main north-eastern corridor to Shepparton, included Cobram in its estimates of potential patronage. [1] When the Shepparton line was extended further north towards Numurkah and the Murray River, however, and a line to Yarrawonga was constructed from Benalla on the north-eastern line, landholders in Cobram became concerned they would be "beyond a reasonable radius of any station." [2]
When extension of the line from Numurkah to Tocumwal to meet the New South Wales Government Railways system was recommended in 1879, Cobram residents began lobbying local politicians for a diversion of the route to serve the east of the town. [3] Ultimately when the infamous Octopus Act of the Victorian Parliament passed in 1884, authorising a vast program of government railway construction across the colony, it included a railway from Numurkah to Cobram and none to Tocumwal. [4]
Building contractors for the Victorian Railways, Messrs. Shaw, Monie and Mixner, began work on the line in April 1887 with around 50 labourers. [5] Construction was delayed by severe weather that winter, and although the Railway Commissioners' promise that the line would be complete by the summer harvest could not be fulfilled, local residents were told to expect the use of some of the line. [6] The contractors were hauling small amounts of wheat to meet the main railway in May the following year when an inexperienced driver derailed his train returning to Numurkah. [7] The line officially opened on 1 October 1888 simultaneously with eight other railway lines around the state. [8]
The decision to construct a line to Cobram in lieu of Tocumwal was heavily criticised, and an article in The Age accused Premier of Victoria and Minister for Railways Duncan Gillies of "meddling" in the design. The article observed that the landholdings of a "prominent member of the Legislative Council" had appreciated significantly in value as a result of the decision, and asked "what occult influence induced the Minister to drag the line out of its natural course to Cobram?" [9] When Victorian Railways Commissioner Richard Speight sued The Age for libel in the following years, on the basis on a series of such articles alleging widespread corruption in the operation of the Octopus Act, lawyers for the newspaper pointed out that the three daily trains on the Cobram branch brought an average revenue of fewer than 15 shillings each. [10]
When, in 1904, a decision was taken to meet the New South Wales Government Railways system at Tocumwal with construction of a new line, Cobram residents vehemently protested the construction of a junction at Strathmerton, which would leave the Cobram line a branch instead of on the main route from the river to Melbourne. [11] The project went ahead as proposed and the Victorian line to Tocumwal was completed in 1905.
Before the opening of the Tocumwal line, the single-track Cobram line was served by a single daily return mixed train from Melbourne, via Seymour and Shepparton, with a scheduled journey time of just under 8 hours. [12] By 1918, the main train continued on to Tocumwal and a connecting service operated on the Cobram branch. [13] In 1928, a railmotor service connecting with an additional train to Numurkah on a Wednesday night, returning on a Thursday morning, had been added. [14]
After the Second World War, the VR introduced its new Walker railmotor, and expanded passenger services on the Cobram line along with other branches across the state. [15] By 1969 this meant two railmotor services ran in each direction between Cobram and Numurkah every day except Sunday to connect with trains to and from Melbourne. Three goods services were scheduled on the line each week. [16]
Passenger numbers in the region had declined substantially by 1975, and the service between Strathmerton and Tocumwal was replaced by a bus in November, connecting with trains that now ran through to Cobram. At times, the number of passengers was so low that the Cobram station master drove ongoing travellers to Tocumwal in a station wagon. The rail service was cut back to Numurkah in 1981 but restored in the 1983 New Deal for Country Passengers. [17]
By then, apart from around 5,000 tonnes (4,900 long tons; 5,500 short tons) of annual grain traffic on the line, by far the smallest amount carried on any branch between Shepparton and Tocumwal, freight had almost entirely disappeared from the Cobram line. Nevertheless, when the Tocumwal line was considered as a candidate for gauge standardisation as a secondary link to New South Wales, the VR intended to retain the connection to the Cobram branch. The project did not eventuate. [18]
In 1993, the government of Premier Jeff Kennett announced it intended to end passenger train services on most of the Victorian country network, including the line from Seymour to Cobram. After negotiating substantial reductions in operating costs with railway unions, the government agreed to retain the Cobram service, among others. [19] Ultimately, however, when the operation of the line was put to private tender, the winning bid by Hoys Roadlines replaced the service north of Shepparton with a bus. [20] The last passenger train to Cobram ran on 21 August 1993. [21]
Goulburn Valley Highway is a highway located in Victoria, Australia. The section north of the Hume Freeway is part of the Melbourne to Brisbane National Highway and is the main link between these two cities as well as a major link between Victoria and inland New South Wales. It is also the most direct route between Melbourne and the major regional centre of Shepparton in Victoria.
Strathmerton is a town in Victoria, Australia.
Cobram is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is on the Murray River which forms the border between Victoria and New South Wales. Cobram along with the nearby towns of Numurkah and Yarrawonga is part of Shire of Moira and is the administrative centre of the council. Its twin town of Barooga is located on the north side of the Murray River. Surrounding Cobram are a number of orchards, dairy farms and wineries. At the 2016 census, Cobram had a population of 6,014. Barooga's population is currently 1,817.
Numurkah is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the Goulburn Valley Highway, 37 kilometres (23 mi) north of Shepparton, in the Shire of Moira. At the 2017 census, Numurkah had a population of 4,768.
Seymour railway station is located on the North East line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Seymour, and opened on 20 November 1872. The station is the terminus for V/Line's Seymour line services.
The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Albury railway station in the border settlement of Albury–Wodonga to Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne central business district, serving the cities of Wangaratta and Seymour, and smaller towns in northeastern Victoria. The line is owned by VicTrack, but leased to, and maintained by, the Australian Rail Track Corporation, and forms part of the Sydney–Melbourne rail corridor.
Shepparton railway station is located on the Tocumwal line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the city of Shepparton, and it opened on 13 January 1880.
The Tocumwal railway line is a 1,600 mm gauge railway line in Victoria, Australia. The line runs between the border town of Tocumwal in New South Wales to Southern Cross, Melbourne. The line is utilised by various passenger and freight trains serving the northern suburbs of Melbourne and northern regions of Victoria.
The Strathmerton Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Bulldogs, is an Australian rules football and netball club that was established in 1894 and has been affiliated with the Picola & District Football League since 1994.
The B class are a class of diesel locomotives built by Clyde Engineering, Granville for the Victorian Railways in 1952–1953. Ordered and operated by the Victorian Railways, they initiated the dieselisation of the system and saw use on both passenger and freight services, with many remaining in service today, both in preserved and revenue service. Some were rebuilt as the V/Line A class, while others have been scrapped.
The Shire of Numurkah was a local government area on the Murray River in the Goulburn Valley region, about 210 kilometres (130 mi) north of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 820 square kilometres (316.6 sq mi), and existed from 1957 until 1994.
The New Deal for Country Passengers was a timetable introduced on 4 October 1981 in Victoria, Australia which revolutionised the provision of country passenger railway services. Thirty-five little-used passenger stations were closed, rolling stock utilisation was improved, and new rolling stock introduced. The timetable and associated service changes resulted in an average patronage growth of 8.7% per year, from 3 million in 1981 to 5.6 million passengers in 1990/91.
Numurkah is a closed railway station on the Goulburn Valley railway line in the town of Numurkah, Victoria, Australia.
Strathmerton is a closed railway station on the Goulburn Valley railway in the town of Strathmerton, Victoria, Australia. The station opened at the same time as the railway from Shepparton to Cobram on 1 October 1888, with the line to Tocumwal not opening until 28 February 1905, ending at a temporary terminus on the south side of the Murray River, the line not completed into Tocumwal until July 1908. The junction between the lines was to the north of the station, facing down trains.
Cobram railway station is a former railway station in the town of Cobram, Victoria, Australia. Passenger rail services to the station ended when V/Line ceased operating passenger services in 1993, but a number of services continued to use the line until 1999.
Hoys Roadlines was an Australian bus operator based in the Victorian city of Wangaratta. From 1993 until 2004 the company also had a contract to operate train services on the Shepparton line on behalf of the Victorian State Government.
Tocumwal railway station is a heritage-listed closed railway station in the town of Tocumwal, New South Wales, Australia. It was once the break-of-gauge between the broad gauge Victorian Railways Tocumwal line from the south, and the standard gauge New South Wales Government Railways Tocumwal line from the north. However, only the line from Victoria is still open.
The Federal District Football Association (FDFA) was first established in 1897 at a meeting at Gedye's Victoria Hotel, Cobram, Victoria for the purpose of controlling the "Cobram Courier Cup" Australian rules football competition.
The Girgarre railway line is a closed 23-kilometre (14 mi) branch railway line situated in the Loddon Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. Constructed by the Victorian Railways, it branches from the Colbinabbin line at Rushworth station, and runs north from the town of Rushworth to Girgarre. The line was primarily built to serve the livestock and other farm industries as well as providing a general goods and passenger service to townships in the area.
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